Call My Name
by konohajuice
Summary: What people usually consider to be the best day of their lives ends up being Sakura's worst as she gets married off to once a sworn enemy for the sake of a peace treaty, however; a much sinister plan goes underway in this new kingdom. With her new husband and a long time servant, things slowly start to unfold at the stake of many lives.
1. Chapter 1 - Here Comes the Bride

**Disclaimer**:I obviously do not own Naruto or its characters, though I wish I did because I love them oh so much.

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Sakura looked at herself in the mirror. The hair and makeup artist did a damn good job fixing her up. Her lips were painted red, her eyes were lightly covered with makeup, and her cheeks were as rosy as the cherry blossoms that were placed in her pink hair for decoration. Her French nails accentuated her white gown and the train of her dress extended for about a yard and a half. This was about to be the absolute worst day of her life.

"Sakura-sama. It's time."

Sakura took in a deep breath and looked at her bodyguard in the mirror, who was waiting for her at the door of the dressing room. "Right."

She walked over to him and heaved a big sigh. "Itachi. Will you be staying my side after this ceremony?"

"I'm not sure if I can."

"I see...what will you do after this?"

"I'll still work at the royal palace in Linshore with your father since that's what he wants me to do...so I'm afraid that this will be the last time I escort you...your highness."

"Right...by the way, didn't I tell you to stop calling me 'your highness'?"

Itachi hid a small smile. "I apologize, Sakura-sama."

"Ugh..._sama _again..."

She walked into the hallway and saw guards lined up against the wall towards the stairs that led to the enormous hall where the wedding ceremony was going to take place. At the top of the stairs, she saw her father waiting for her. He held out his arm and she wrapped her arm around it. Looking at Itachi, her father bowed his head in thanks.

"Thank you, Itachi. For everything you've done for my daughter up until this point."

Itachi bowed and Sakura looked at him sadly. "Itachi...I-"

"Be happy, Sakura-sama."

Sakura pursed her lips together in a tight line without saying any more and nodded. Her father looked at her regretfully and she noticed her dad's expression and sighed. "I have to do what's best for our country, didn't you say that? This was going to happen eventually."

When they finally reached the palace hall, wedding symphonies started playing, marking their cue.

"Put your veil on."

Sakura followed her father's orders and did so after taking a quick look around the unfamiliar palace hall. She could definitely feel the tension in the air between the two royal families of Linshore and Ferravea.

For many years, the weather in the country of Linshore was unbelievably unpredictable. There would be seasons where the country would suddenly fall victim to harsh dry seasons. Most farmers couldn't harvest their crops and there wouldn't be much food to go around as a result. This eventually caused a great wave of hunger among its citizens leading to riots and crime in the country. Sakura's father knew that as long as this kept on going, Linshore would eventually fall apart. No one ever when or how long the dry seasons would last. Its neighboring country Ferravea on the other hand is blessed with fertile land and many farmers tend to a wide variety of crops.

However for over 100 years, both royal families have never gotten along and have always been at odds with each other. Multiple wars broke out and they never made an effort to get along either. It wasn't until last year when Sakura's father declared for a peace treaty with the king of the Ferravea. Even if Linshore didn't have the most fertile land, its royal family had knowledge to many medicinal secrets and formulas and had healing abilities running through their blood. It was a rare power that the king of Ferravea knew would definitely benefit his country...and his bloodline. As a result, both royal families decided to settle their differences and work together, but at the expense of their children's freedom. It was because of this peace agreement that Sakura was given the task to marry the only son of the royal family of Ferravea.

For what felt like forever, Sakura made it to the front of the hall where her future husband was waiting for her. She saw her father shake hands with the king of Ferravea and she went to stand next to the prince. It was their first time meeting each other since their parents wanted to make sure they would see the wedding through till the end. Both of them couldn't see each other very well since the veil was somewhat obscuring their facial features to one another and so with both hands, the prince unveiled her face and her mouth opened slightly in shock. The prince of Ferravea was handsome and looked ridiculously familiar. He had dark hair and dark eyes and sharp facial features that were incomparable to even some of the most handsome men from Linshore. She noticed that his expression also had the face of someone who looked like he saw something outside of his expectations. He smirked at her, sending chills down her spine.

They turned their heads towards the priest who was going to wed them. In a loud voice, the priest bellowed, "Welcome royal family and friends of Linshore and Ferravea, we are gathered today to celebrate this very special day, marking the beginning of our peace treaty between the countries of Linshore and Ferravea. I introduce to you Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. By joining them in marriage, may we see our lands prosper and may all the people of our kingdoms live in peace and harmony."

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who had his full attention on the priest. Her mind went completely blank and Itachi appeared in her mind. She bit back at her tears and heaved a sigh. Sasuke heard her protesting murmur and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He noticed that she was biting hard on her lip and he looked back at the priest. It seemed like the both of them were going through the worst days of their lives.

The ceremony took about an hour and the royal family and its guests were quickly dismissed after it had ended. There was no reception at all. The wedding turned out to be all formalities and it ended, just like that. Her whole life was now committed to this stranger, the son of the king whose ancestors had been at odds with hers for generations.

The newly weds went to their separate dressing rooms and changed out of their formal attire. For Sakura, living at the Ferravea palace was definitely going to be hard to adapt to. Some of the maids who were helping her out of her dress and makeup gave her evil glares. Most of the guards also looked at her distastefully. She hated it. She walked out of her dressing room after finishing up and saw Sasuke waiting for her outside.

"You're different from what I imagined." Sasuke said.

"And so are you."

Sasuke scoffed. "I guess I got lucky huh. Even if our parents waited till this day for us to meet, I still would have called it off if you had turned out to be ugly."

"If you had done that in front of our families and the guests, you would have been stripped off your crown and a war would have broken out. I don't think you're _that_ stupid, unless you really are what they say. A spoiled conceited brat who doesn't give a damn about anyone else's problems."

Sasuke chuckled and walked up to her. "Oo. _Spoiled. _Believe whatever you want. I don't care about this treaty. But if it's with you, I don't mind."

Sakura closed her eyes and walked away from him. "You and I both know that this is all for the sake of our countries and our people. Don't expect me to treat you any differently."

Sasuke pulled her back and turned her around with a dangerous look in his eyes. She yanked herself away from him and stepped back. "Knock it off."

Sasuke placed a finger under her chin and lifted her head up to look at him. "You don't talk to your husband like that. Keep in mind that you're in my chains now. Your country is nothing without our land."

"And your country is nothing without our abilities. We may be equal in strength but your intelligence is zero when it comes to medicinal values. You have no power over me."

Sasuke glared at her and forcefully cupped her face. She didn't flinch and he chuckled and shook his head in response. "You've got guts, _wife_. I'll make sure your time with me becomes a living hell."

In an instant, Sakura saw someone pull Sasuke away from her. A man with a ponytail that was very familiar to her stood in front of her, blocking her from Sasuke's reach. Sasuke's eyes widened and he put his hands up.

"Whoa, dude. Chill."

"Itachi?"

The other guards in the hall quickly pointed their blades at Itachi since he posed a threat. Sakura panicked, holding her hands out against the guards. "He doesn't mean any harm."

Itachi's eyes appeared resolute and he kept them focused on Sasuke. "Living hell, you say? Not if I can help it."

Sasuke scoffed and looked at Sakura, her horrified expression towards the guards pointing their swords at her personal guard spoke wonders to him and he knew immediately why she was acting this way. "A princess and her royal servant. Sounds pretty novel doesn't it?"

Sakura's eyes widened and her face flushed. "Shut your damn mouth."

Sasuke smirked and looked at Itachi. "I don't know who you are, but if you're her bodyguard or whatever princesses need these days, you're useless now."

Itachi bowed, shocking Sakura who had never expected him to bow to any member of the Ferravea family. "May I have your permission to stay by Sakura-sama's side?"

Sasuke scoffed. "Have you no pride?"

Sakura pulled on Itachi's shoulders, trying to get him to stand up straight. "Itachi, you don't have to do this."

Itachi stood firm and replied. "I don't have to, but I want to, Sakura-sama."

"My father needs you."

"And so do you."

Sakura's lips parted slightly as she was at a loss for words.

"_Oh man, did I miss something? What's all this commotion?"_

Sakura followed the sound of the voice and saw a blonde haired man walking up to them from behind Sasuke.

"Naruto," Sasuke scowled, recognizing the voice. "You're late."

"Yeah, well, sorry. I was messing around. How was the wedding?"

"Were you with Hinata again?"

The man called Naruto shrugged in response and made eye contact with Sakura. He whistled and eyed her up and down.

"This her? She's a fucking babe."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "She's not all that. Just like the people of Linshore."

Sakura raised a hand to slap him but Itachi stopped her. She groaned and pulled her hand away and looked at Sasuke. "If you don't mind, I'm going. I don't like to associate with guys like you who speak badly of my people. Let's go Itachi. I'm going to father directly and I'll request for your transfer. I honestly could've just done that from the start but I guess you and I both know you're better off here."

Itachi smiled as he huffed out of his nose and followed her.

Sasuke, astonished at her sudden reaction watched them leave. "W-what did you say?"

Sasuke, with Naruto beside him, fumed and he walked up to the both of them. Sasuke pulled her arm back but Itachi immediately stepped forward cutting Sasuke off and making sure he wasn't close enough to Sakura. However, Itachi stopped any attempts at Sasuke as soon as he heard a familiar sound. He drew his attention away from his original target and saw that Naruto had drawn his sword after noticing the sound of it being taken out of its shaft.

"You let your guard down man," Naruto chuckled. "Sorry but I can't let you attack him. If you try something against Sasuke, you and your little princess will be in biiiig trouble."

Sakura placed a hand on Naruto's sword expressionlessly. "That's enough."

"I don't take orders from Linshore scum."

"I am your prince's wife. I can. Now stop."

Naruto's eyes widened, surprised at Sakura's eagerness. He looked at Sasuke who sighed and moved his hand back and forth as if shooing Sakura and Itachi away.

"Whatever, this is pointless. Let's go Naruto. Keep in mind Sakura, the people of our countries believe we're married so don't try anything _scandalous_ with your little toy you call your guard." Naruto looked at Sakura and Itachi and put his weapon away and followed Sasuke.

Sakura clenched her fists and turned around to go the opposite way. "He is _not_ a toy...whatever...let's go Itachi."

Itachi followed her and turned his head to look back at Sasuke, who was also looking their way. After a moment, they both turned their heads back around and kept looking ahead, going opposite directions.

"Is it just me, or does that guy look really familiar?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

"Her guard?"

"Yeah."

"That's what I was thinking. Who knows."

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**A/N: **Hi. I'm back with another one. Heh. There will be some chapters where there'll be some M rated stuff going on buuut I'll warn those of you who gag at those things, so no worries. ;) I hope you all enjoy.


	2. Chapter 2 - Anger

It's been three days since the marriage ceremony and Sasuke and Sakura haven't seen each other since. Sasuke was busy with some local affairs that Sakura had no clue about and all she did was explore her new home and its surroundings. She was relieved to not have been able to see him. Her first impression of him was ten below zero and she was damn sure she didn't want to see him anytime soon anyway, however; that wasn't going to be the case today.

"Sakura-sama. Sasuke and the rest of them are waiting for you, you should hurry it up a little." Itachi told her as she starting putting her hair up in a ponytail.

"I woke up late, gimme a break...but you don't call him Sasuke-sama huh."

"...No, I don't see the need to."

Sakura giggled as she put on her royal cloak with the Linshore crest embroidered on it. Itachi was also wearing the same one. She sighed and combed her fingers through her hair. "I don't think there'll be a lot of people who will be pleased to see me when we visit the market later..."

Itachi glanced at the door after noticing someone's presence.

"That is why we have plenty of guards coming with us."

Sakura followed Itachi's gaze to find Naruto waiting at her bedroom door. Naruto glared at them and sighed. "I came here cause you were taking too damn long. Sasuke is getting irritated. Keep in mind that you're not in Linshore anymore so you can't just go around doing whatever you please."

Sakura walked over to the door with Itachi following behind her. "I get it already, sheesh. I'm already finished."

Along the way there were some maids cleaning and sweeping the floors, one of them in particular would always keep her eyes on at Sakura whenever she walked by. She had red hair and glasses and even when Sakura wasn't looking, she could feel her piercing glare. Sakura ignored her but then stumbled as her foot caught onto the broom that was suddenly in front of her. She managed to catch her fall by latching onto Naruto's back. She heard the culprit click her tongue and realized that that attempt was deliberate.

"Whoa, watch your step," Naruto said, turning his head to look at her.

She heard chuckles from behind her and sighed. "Yeah. It's not like I had a choice." She walked ahead of Naruto and didn't see him look back at the maids and glare at them for being a nuisance.

"Sakura-sama. Are you sure that you want us to wear our cloaks in public? Or even show your face..." Itachi asked her, leaning towards her unexpectedly, his eyes staring.

Sakura felt her ears get hot and she backed away, almost running into Naruto who was behind her.

Naruto grunted and grabbed her shoulders. "Damn it, your-freaking-highness! You're awful on your feet."

Sakura glared at Itachi for leaning in too close and he held his hands up innocently. She groaned and nodded. "I don't care if my face is exposed. I'll be fine. Wear our crest proudly, got it?"

Itachi chuckled. "Understood."

They finally reached the entrance of the palace to find Sasuke with other guards and some horses. Sasuke clicked his tongue at the sight of Sakura and Itachi and got on his horse. "Took you long enough, thought you weren't going to show up."

"Still with that shitty attitude. I know my duties," Sakura said, finding a horse. "And I would have loved to keep this streak of not seeing you."

"That's what I was going to say."

Itachi sighed and put a hand on her head and looked at Sasuke "You're married. Don't forget that so get along."

She sighed and Sasuke rolled his eyes at him. "Whatever, man. Let's just go...jeez, I don't get why you don't just go look around by yourselves."

"This is for show. Your people need to see that this marriage is legit so deal with it," Sakura grumbled.

Itachi helped Sakura on her horse and Sasuke watched Itachi carefully, reading his movements. Naruto noticed Sasuke's curiosity and watched Itachi as well.

"Why do keep looking at that guy? Did you know him before?" Naruto asked him.

Sasuke shook his head. "I didn't meet him until the day of the wedding. Same as you."

They had finally arrived at the local market and luckily for them, it was a weekday and it wasn't as crowded. Sakura looked around and saw that the people there were living quite simple lives, just like the people at Linshore. However just as she had expected, not everyone was happy to see her.

"Make way!" yelled one of the guards who were with them.

Some of the customers who were walking around moved out of their way but Sakura pulled her horse up to a stop. "I'll walk from here."

"Wait, Sakura-sama. You're supposed to stay on your horse," Itachi told her, getting down his horse.

"I want to walk around a little bit. My butt hurts."

She heard Sasuke and Naruto groan and they followed along as well. She walked around, looking at the different carts some of the farmers had prepared.

"That guy has been looking over here for a while now..." Sakura muttered, looking at a man who was watching them from his vegetable cart.

"Ignore him," Itachi told her.

Naruto looked back at the strange man curiously and lightly tapped the hilt of his sword.

Sasuke sighed. "What can you expect? Not everyone is going to be happy about this marriage treaty thing. We're not king and queen yet so it's still unstable."

Sakura clicked her tongue. "I know that already moron, shut up."

"Wha-!" Naruto pulled Sasuke back and he could only sulk. Their group kept on walking and greeted Ferravea citizens but some of the people dryly greeted Sakura back. She decided to go to one of the carts where a mother and daughter were actually genuinely smiling back at her.

"Hello, Sakura-sama," said the mother, bowing with a smile. Sakura felt relieved that she had finally seen someone who wasn't looking at her so rudely.

The daughter stared at Sakura in awe. "Your pink hair is really pretty."

Sakura smiled. "Thank you."

She looked at their vegetables and touched them. "You must've worked hard to make these huh..."

The girl smiled at her. "Yeah! My dad tends to the farm every morning!"

"That's great."

There were sudden sounds of running footsteps and Itachi immediately blocked Sakura from an attack. It was the same man that had been watching them since they first arrived at the marketplace. Itachi grabbed hold of the man's wrist, almost twisting it, making the man drop his knife.

"You-it's because of your family that my father is dead..." he said quietly. "Now we have to bow down to you? I will never!"

The man unexpectedly used his other arm and grabbed hold of another knife he had hidden away and lunged towards Itachi, deeply cutting and stabbing it into his arm. Itachi winced slightly at the pain and his grip on the man loosened.

Other guards who were with them along with Naruto ran towards the commotion and Naruto drew his sword. Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened in horror and before they could do anything to stop him, Naruto quickly cut through the man's shirt and his back. There were screams coming from all over the place and the man's eyes widened, his voice inaudible due to the sudden pain.

Sakura lips trembled and she ran over to the man, repeatedly saying "No" over and over again. She turned to look at Naruto. "Damn you, monster."

"Why the hell did you do that?! You didn't have to fucking do that, we could've taken him alive! Think before doing something!" Sasuke snapped, grabbed hold of Naruto's shirt.

"I have to do what I have to do! _He_ was the monster! If I didn't, your wife and her precious guard would've been hurt. It is my duty to protect you _and_ your wife now, don't forget that Sasuke-_sama_," Naruto said mockingly.

"We can take care of ourselves!" Sakura said, looking at the man's wound. Sasuke clicked his tongue and forcefully pushed Naruto away.

"Take that injured man away," Sasuke ordered the guards. He looked at Sakura and furrowed his brows. "There's nothing more we can do. I would've rather thrown him in jail but shit. Shit, Naruto!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and put his sword away. "Give it up, Sasuke. Sometimes there will be no time to think before taking action, remember that."

The other guards obeyed Sasuke and went over to Sakura and the man. She held out her hand and stopped them. "No, I can help!"

"The prince said-"

"I _command_ you _no_! Just—stand guard or something, let me do this real quick!"

Sasuke glared at Itachi, motioning him to do something and Itachi walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Sakura-sama."

She looked at the man in her arms and couldn't ignore the pain he was in. "No, I can do something about it. Damn, I need to stop the bleeding..." She took her cloak off hurriedly and ripped it apart. Itachi's eyes widened.

"Sakura-sama, don't tear your-that's very expensive to make!"

"I don't care!"

The man groaned and attempted to push her away. "I did not...ask...for your help."

"Quit being stubborn asshole, I'm going to piss you off even more by helping you. How's that?"

The man blinked at her, astonished.

Itachi tried to plead with her once again. "You are not allowed to help mere citizens and this man tried to kill you! If you try to heal this man-"

"He's right, Sakura," Sasuke interrupted. "You're not supposed to just use your-"

"Screw the rules right now! He's a victim to our ancestors' problems. Just keep watch, damn it."

Sasuke fumed and before he could go up to Sakura, Itachi's grip on her shoulder tightened, slightly hurting her.

"Itachi...what..."

"Sakura-sama. In a normal situation, I probably would've let you continue but think hard about what you're about to do right now."

Sakura glared at him, but his gaze would not falter. She thought hard...even if she managed to heal him, it would take way too much energy since the wound was critical and deep. He would still get thrown in jail and the fact that he tried to kill her _and_ Itachi wouldn't change. It was most likely going to be the death penalty for this man. He was as good as dead.

"But...he doesn't have to die..."

Itachi shook his head. "There's nothing more you can do. Also if you do this, the people will think you're soft and they may take advantage of you. You're a kind princess Sakura-sama, but you cannot do this right now."

The man touched her hand. "Quit acting the hero..."

Itachi clicked his tongue at the man, but then the man lightly smiled at the both of them. Tears welled up in her eyes and her grip on the man loosened. Itachi sighed and slowly helped her up. She clenched her fists and they both looked at the man on the ground, who was closing in on death. It would only be about a minute now.

Sasuke watched her quietly, finding it strange that she would cry over someone from his country, let alone someone who tried to kill her.

Sakura looked at Itachi's wound and he smiled.

"I'll be fine," he assured her.

Sakura sighed and used the cloth that she was going to use on the man and wrapped it around Itachi's arm instead. "I'll take a look at that when we get back to the palace."

Sasuke turned around and faced his people.

"I hope this becomes a lesson to you. We have a treaty with the country of Linshore, don't forget that."

Sakura remained silent.

"We should go, Sasuke-sama. The people are riled up and I don't think it's good to stay out here any longer. We'll have a few people stay to clean up this mess," said one of the guards, looking at the man's corpse.

Sasuke nodded in agreement and looked at Sakura. "Let's go. Word's going to go around soon and the people will get the idea."

After arriving to the palace, Itachi followed Sakura to her room and she sat him down on the chair beside her bed. She started ripping apart the remainder of her cloak.

"Ah! Your cloak-"

"It's already ripped up anyways." She removed the old bandage on his arm and examined his wound.

"Sakura-sama...I can let it heal normally."

She shook her head in disagreement and hovered her hands over his injury. "This injury is deep...think of this as a thank you for what you did today. I'm always saved because of you...and I couldn't save that man so...let me do this."

"You can't," he said, grabbing her hands forcefully. "You can't...keep worrying about a lowly servant like me."

She sighed and interrupted him, slapping his arm that inciting a small groan. "What do you mean by 'someone like you'? Just let me do this."

Itachi took in a deep breath and let go of her hands. A green glow emanated from her hands and Itachi could feel the stinging pain slowly fading away. He broke the awkward silence and muttered, "You shouldn't have tried to heal that man. What if your father were to find out?"

"I honestly don't see the problem in helping out one man."

"He was crazy."

She sighed and slapped his arm again, inciting yet another groan. "I know. I just felt bad...I myself love my own father and if I lost him to a pointless war, I'd be pretty angry too."

Itachi was quiet for a moment and responded quietly. "...I see...but you can't always make decisions out of mere feelings."

"That sort of naiveté will get you killed," said Sasuke, who walked in on them right at that moment. He huffed at the sight of Itachi and Sakura. "Didn't I tell you to avoid any sort of scandalous incidents? What if someone else walked in?"

"He's just my bodyguard, get that through your head already. He's also injured."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe. He looked at the ripped up Linshore cloak on the bed and looked at Sakura, who was focused on Itachi's arm. Then his eyes widened as he saw the green glow coming from her hands.

"Are you healing him? "

"Yes," Sakura replied.

"But isn't that something that he should just let heal normally? I thought you weren't supposed to go around carelessly healing people."

"Oh, so you've learned a little something about our abilities have you?"

Sasuke glared at her. "Obviously. You should be more careful. I know that there's a limit to how much you can use it."

Sakura smirked, "Aw, Sasuke, you care, would you look at that."

Sasuke scoffed. "Yeah, right. Only because it's my ass that'll get in trouble if something happens to you."

"And me," Itachi added.

Sakura huffed, finishing what she could and wrapping the final increments of the cloth around Itachi's arm. She looked at him and nodded. "...sorry."

Sasuke looked at the both of them and clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Itachi glared at him in response and Sasuke immediately looked away. "Uhhh anyways...don't do anything stupid like that again." He looked back at her. "This is the kind of world we live in, there's no time to play nice or hero. If you die because of stupid decisions you make, the treaty will be as good as null. I would've rather thrown that man in jail but Naruto is too skilled when it comes to swordsmanship-that man didn't stand a chance. So don't hold a grudge on Naruto, I probably would've done the same thing if I was him...I don't know if I would've killed him though. That Naruto...always doing too much."

Sakura sighed with a smile, "You do care about the treaty and your people." Sasuke just rolled his eyes and mumbled some incoherent words that sounded like a 'Whatever.'

A guard appeared at the doorway and everyone's attention landed on him. Feeling intimidated, the guard gulped and stood up straight.

"Uh...well, hello...uh, Itachi, you've been summoned."

Sakura looked at Itachi, her hands trembled nervously. "Did I get you in trouble?"

Itachi shook his head and stood from his seat. "I doubt it, I'll see you later okay?" He then looked at Sasuke with a warning glare and left.

Sakura watched him leave quietly and she wrapped up her ruined cloak. Sasuke watched and walked over to her, sitting in what used to be Itachi's seat.

"So, you got the hots for your guard huh?" Sasuke asked.

She rolled her eyes. "I don't have time for this, leave."

"It's been bothering me. Why'd you try to help that man who tried to kill you?"

Sakura sighed. "This again? I don't know. Instinct I guess...and I wanted to show him that the people of Linshore weren't all bad...plus he was victim to our ancestors' wars..."

"Listen, I'm only saying this because you and I are going to be together for a long time. We have to follow rules no matter how much we hate them."

She chuckled. "So you wouldn't have called off the wedding even I was ugly then?"

He shrugged. "Who knows?"

Sakura lightly smiled at him. "You know, you're not so bad when you're not trying to kill me."

Sasuke stood up from the chair and slowly walked over to her. She carefully took a step back. The back of her knees lightly hit the edge of her bed and she wound up falling onto it on her butt, but Sasuke daringly followed and put a hand on her shoulder, pushing her down. He went on top of her and stared. She didn't move and her expression didn't change.

"I'm not so bad, you say?"

Sakura glared at him and raised her knee. "Try something and I'm going to crush your balls."

"Pfft..." Sasuke covered his mouth and stifled his laughter. Sakura lay there, utterly confused.

"W-wha! Are you making fun of me?!"

"No, it's just that whenever I come onto girls like this..." he moved in closer, his lips lightly brushing her ear and he whispered with a very low tone, "They get all flustered and they absolute _love _it."

Sakura was not amused and she pushed him away, but then she looked at his eyes, like actually looked this time and he raised his hands up in surrender. "Okay okay, I'm done. I'm just messing around, I don't want your guard to kill me."

Before he could get off the bed, she grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him even closer. Sasuke blinked and smirked.

"Huh, are you coming onto me now?"

She didn't reply. Her green eyes, like the color of her healing powers, peered deep into his. His heart raced as she drew in closer, staring at him. He drew back quickly, very confused and somewhat flustered.

"The hell was that?"

"Oh...sorry...your eyes...they look like..."

"Sasuke-sama, you're also being summoned." Sasuke turned his head and saw that it was the same guard from before and looked back at Sakura who had a confused expression on her face.

"Jeez, you're weird as hell you know that?" He then left.

Sakura looked at her hands after realizing what she had done and slapped her cheeks. "What kinda answer...what was I doing..."

Following the guard, Sasuke wound up running into Naruto who was off messing around again.

Naruto lit up at the sight of Sasuke. "Whoa, where are you off to? I was looking for you - whoa, what's up with your face? You look pissed."

Sasuke glared at him and didn't respond, still walking and eventually walking past him. Naruto groaned and followed.

"Are you mad at me for earlier?"

"No, I'm not." He then started mumbling to himself. "Shit, Sakura is one confusing woman...but anyways! Quit bothering me, I have to meet my father."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Your father?"

"Yeah, go."

They eventually stopped at their destination and Naruto noticed that the king was outside waiting.

"Oh, hello Naruto," the king said.

Naruto bowed. "Good day, your highness."

"Leave," Sasuke whispered.

Naruto nodded and left. He turned his head to look at the king and Sasuke who looked extremely pissed off at his dad. His eyes then widened as he saw Itachi appear behind the door.

"Itachi? Hm, must be some meeting about what happened today..."

He then looked back once again and saw the guards close the door and stand outside.


	3. Chapter 3 - Promiscuous

**A/N: **Hiii! Thank you all for the reviews/favs/follows. You guys are hontoni amazing TvT 3 I've decided that I might leave the M chapters out, I'm not sure yet...I don't know if I'll get flagged for putting an M rated chapter on a rated T fic. Also, I'll be updating every Monday/Friday. I was trying to see how much I can do over the week last week and I thiiiink that's about as much as I can do since I also work. Anyways. Thank you guys for supporting this! :*

* * *

After yesterday's events, Sakura was definitely out of sorts today. She stayed in bed for over an hour from the moment she woke up and wouldn't stop looking at her hands. She thought of Sasuke and his eyes and shook her head, telling herself to stop thinking about him. "Shower..." she muttered to herself, ruffling her hair.

"You're finally out of bed, Sakura-sama."

Sakura blinked and turned her head to find Itachi in the room sitting on the opposite side against the wall.

"Uh...whoa! Itachi?! How long have you been sitting there?" she asked, flustered, getting back under the covers.

"I've been here all night. I kept watch over you."

"So you didn't sleep?!"

"I took naps every now and then."

"That doesn't matter, you need rest! – Hold on wait. Why are you even here?!"

Itachi stood up and stretched his arms with a smug laugh. "Why are you being all shy for huh, not used to having a man in your room? Come on, we grew up together. Quit acting like this."

Sakura hid even further under the blankets. "You could've stayed outside or something. What if I was snoring or making weird noises..."

She heard him sigh and felt the blanket pull away as Itachi loomed over her. "I'd laugh and wouldn't tell you if you did, Sakura-sama"

Sakura huffed and grabbed her pillow and threw it at him, which he caught with ease. "You're awful!"

Itachi laughed and went to the door. "What do you want to do today?"

"I don't really know."

"Alright." He then looked at her a little longer. "You know...you slept for a long time. Are you feeling alright?"

There was a knock on the door and Sasuke and Naruto walked in.

"Yo," Naruto said, smiling at them.

"You're cheery for someone who hates us," Sakura muttered.

"After yesterday, I have a slightly different opinion of you. I've never seen anyone from Linshore cry over our people, much less anyone from the royal family. I kind of like you."

"Quit it," Sasuke said grimly, elbowing him. He looked at Sakura and sighed, not knowing why he got himself so muddled in his emotions the day before when he was messing around with her.

"So uh...why are you here?" Sakura asked.

Naruto looked at Itachi and then at Sasuke. "You know...I've been meaning to ask, Sasuke. Why did you two meet up with your dad last night?"

Sakura raised a brow and looked at Itachi. "You met with the king?"

Itachi nodded and from her eyes, it looked like he was looking for an excuse for something. "We were talking about different security measures after what had happened at the marketplace. That's why I have to stay with you more often from now since we are on unfriendly territory."

"Ohh...I see."

Naruto looked at Itachi and Sasuke suspiciously. Sasuke noticed this and glared at him. "Say one more annoying thing and I'll seriously hurt you."

Sakura furrowed her brows at Sasuke and got up from bed. "Where'd the Sasuke from yesterday go?"

Sasuke looked on quietly and rubbed his forehead with an annoyed expression and then ran his hand through his hair. "I can't help it if I get impressed after a simple display of your healing abilities."

Sakura glared at him. "It takes years of practice and takes lots of energy, you know that? It's not some mere _simple display_-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

"Ugh, your attitude is still shit."

Sasuke tried to glare at her but his eyes wound up avoiding hers and trailed their way to her lips.

"Just when I was finally thinking that we could actually work together..."

"Yeah right," Sasuke scoffed.

"Well what, you just came here to insult me?" Sakura asked, looking away.

"No, your father is here to visit you. You and I are supposed to meet him. Get ready."

Sakura gasped, "Shit...he must have found out about yesterday. How did he get here so quickly?"

"Word gets around fast. Keep doing unnecessary things like yesterday and stuff like this will happen."

Sasuke and Naruto then left.

"Geez, he's back to being an asshole!" Sakura snapped. "Last night he was being all normal and now he's-"

"Last night?" Itachi asked.

There was an awkward silence. "Uh...nothing."

"Nothing?"

Sakura scratched her cheek awkwardly. "Well...he was somewhat nicer yesterday." She decided to avoid telling him that Sasuke tried coming onto her but that was clearly just him being a tease.

Naruto and Sasuke were on their way to meet Sakura's father and the walk was quieter than usual.

"You're being suspicious as hell," Naruto said bluntly.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked him, glaring.

"That look again. Did you _really _meet with your dad last night to talk about _security measures_?"

"Yeah we did."

Naruto noticed the caution in his voice and decided to just remain quiet. Prying might actually cause him more harm than good.

"So, seems like she hates you again," Naruto said, changing the topic.

"Shut up."

"Come on, admit it. She's got your attention; I saw how anxious you were. You wouldn't meet her eyes."

Sasuke remained quiet and Naruto sighed. "I've known you all my life, I at least know that much. She seems to be the only who can't seem to get your full attention. That pisses you off doesn't it?"

"If you don't shut up right now, I'm going to tell my father to strip you of your position."

Naruto smirked. "Whatever you say."

They ran into Sakura's father, Kizashi and his escorts. Sasuke and Kizashi looked at each other quietly, there was a feeling of distrust somewhat lingering between them.

"Hello your majesty Kizashi." Sasuke bowed to him and Naruto did the same. "This is my guard, Naruto Uzumaki."

"The pleasure is mine, your majesty," Naruto said.

"Mm. Hello. Sasuke, is my daughter treating you well?"

"Yes, she's wonderful."

Naruto snorted and Sasuke's eyes widened in shock and he elbowed Naruto in the side.

"Stop!" he whispered.

Kizashi chuckled. "Please take good care of her. She's very stubborn."

"Yeah definitely." Sasuke then pursed his lips together, not sure if he was supposed to say that but Kizashi just laughed.

"It's seems like you've taken a liking to her."

"Oh yeah, absolutely!" Naruto added.

Sasuke cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yeah, she's _absolutely_ wonderful."

"I'm relieved. I was so worried about that girl. When I told her about the marriage treaty, she didn't even give it a second thought. You'd think that she'd fight for her own well-being but...I guess she's matured quicker than I thought."

Sasuke pondered over that thought for a minute. That concerned side of her was definitely evident the day before.

"Ah! Father!"

Sasuke turned around and saw Sakura and Itachi walking up to them.

"Sakura!" yelled her father, opening his arms. Sakura ran to Kizashi, giving him a tight hug.

"Thank you for coming," Sakura said.

Kizashi glanced at Itachi's arm then looked at him. "Good to see you Itachi."

"Likewise, your majesty."

Kizashi then looked at Sakura with a displeasing expression. "I'm sure you know why I'm here."

"...I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"What do you think. Sasuke, I want you to join us."

Naruto and Itachi pointed at themselves. Kizashi took a moment and shook his head. "Mm. As much as I'd like to have you join us...I'm sorry but this is a family matter. They may consult with you afterwards."

Itachi bowed without responding while Naruto tried to hold back a frown. He eventually gave in and bowed as well. "Understood, your majesty." Naruto looked at Itachi as he walked away. He really wanted to ask him more questions about the day before, but he guessed it would have to wait.

"Will my father be there?" asked Sasuke as they walked towards the meeting room.

Kizashi shook his head. "He's busy with some things so he can't make it. I'm aware about your meeting with Itachi last night regarding new security measures. I trust that you'll be able to send word to him for me after what I'm about to tell you. I haven't been fully honest with you about our powers. Since you're both married now, I trust that you will keep this a secret. Keep in mind that if you do expose this, the stakes will be high."

Sasuke gulped as he noticed Kizashi's menacing tone. He was right. If Sasuke were to tell someone about the weakness of the royal family, someone would definitely take advantage of Sakura and a war would break out. It would be a lose-lose situation. He nodded and Kizashi smiled, walking ahead of them. Sasuke then glanced at Sakura, who was awfully quiet and staring at the ground.

"Oi. What's up with you?" he asked.

Sakura flinched and looked at him, her face was pale. "Oh...nothing."

"Whoa, that's not nothing." He placed a hand on her forehead and noticed that she was cold, unusually cold. "Whoa..."

She shook her head and knocked his hand off. "I'm fine. I'm just tired."

Sasuke furrowed his brows at her worriedly and watched her walk ahead of him. "Shit. You're lucky I even cared to noticed..."

They arrived at the meeting room and all of them sat down quietly.

"So, let's get straight to it," Kizashi said. He looked at Sakura and noticed her pale face. "You're feelings the after effects, aren't you?"

Sakura shook her head and patted her cheeks. "I'm fine, father. I just...didn't get a good night's rest."

Kizashi crossed his arms and sighed furiously. "This is why we're not supposed to use our powers carelessly!"

Sasuke's eyes widened at the sudden rise in the father's voice.

"I saw Itachi's arm. Did you heal him? The wound looks like it healed but it doesn't look like it healed normally, the scar looks almost too perfect. You haven't fully mastered the technique yet and here you are, trying to heal your bodyguard and some stranger from another country and then putting your life in danger!"

Sasuke looked at Sakura who was blankly staring at the table as Kizashi kept rambling on angrily.

"But this is my country now too..."

"Are you an idiot?!" Kizashi snapped, standing up from his seat.

"...I'm sorry..."

Kizashi raised his hands in the air in annoyance. "Do you understand what's going to happen to your credibility as princess? You can't just use your power whenever on whomever you please. People could take advantage of you!"

"I know that already! I've heard enough lecturing from you and Itachi and even Sasuke so I get it already!"

Her father pointed a finger at her. "Don't you dare talk back to me."

Sakura sighed and Sasuke cleared his throat, trying to ease the tension. "Um...your majesty...I honestly think your power is a gift and that it's a great asset. I also know that there are limits to how much power you can use. But, isn't what she did still a good thing?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke, surprised that he was trying to defend her.

Kizashi glared at Sasuke and Sasuke shook his hands calmly. "I'm sorry if I offended you...but I think that she tried to do a good thing."

"Do you not understand the grave consequences of our power?"

Sasuke clenched his fists, unable to say a word since he actually had no idea about the consequences.

"Then you have no right to - ugh." Kizashi groaned and ran his hands down his face and sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm normally calm but Sakura, I'm very upset with you. Your aunt was going to come tomorrow to help train you and you couldn't wait another day? You're almost done with training."

Sakura sighed, "Father I'm sorry."

Kizashi clicked his tongue and looked at Sasuke who was eager for answers. "Sasuke. This power that we have isn't something that we can use whenever we want. There's a price that comes with it. Many have died overusing this power."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he looked at Sakura who remained silent.

"It takes a lot of energy to heal people. Overusing your power or using your power carelessly takes immense amounts of energy and without the proper training, you risk losing your life. There may be a gift running through our veins but not everyone can execute it properly. Sakura is excellent at what she does, she just doesn't know how to control it fully yet and it could be dangerous to her..."

Sasuke looked at Sakura with an even more confused expression.

"And now here she is going off trying to use her abilities on people that she doesn't even know!" Kizashi then crossed his arms and his voice raised even higher. "Apparently you also used it in front of a whole crowd! What were you thinking?! We're not in Linshore anymore, you can't just randomly do those things!"

"I understand already! I'm sorry!" Sakura snapped. "I know...that I'm not in Linshore anymore..."

The room fell silent.

Sasuke muttered quietly. "You knew...that it would affect you...and yet..."

Sakura interrupted Sasuke and stood up weakly. "Father, I know why I did what I did. I'm not one to just sit around doing nothing knowing that I could have helped someone."

"Look at yourself in the mirror before saying something like that to me. You look drained. Tell me something like that once you've fully mastered our techniques."

"Right..."

Kizashi huffed and remained silent and walked up to Sakura. She closed her eyes, expecting to get slapped in the face, but instead she felt his arms wrap around her body.

"Take care of yourself, please. You're my daughter...if anything were to happen to you while I was back home, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself for not being with you."

She felt her father's arms shake around her and she smiled lightly. "I'm sorry for worrying you like that..."

"So you won't do reckless things like that again?"

"...I'll think about it."

Kizashi pulled back and pinched her ear lightly. "Stubborn child."

Sakura laughed and kissed her father on the cheek. "Thank you for always watching out for me."

"Mm. I hope you learned something. I know it's hard living here, but we're supporting you back home and you have Itachi."

Sasuke winced at the name Itachi and Sakura nodded as Kizashi walked to the door, about to leave.

"You're not staying long?" asked Sasuke.

"No, I only came to lecture her and to see if she was doing okay. I have my duty as a father but I also have duties back home. I doubt that I'll be able to leave my country so easily next time though. My wife will kill me if I don't attend to our matters properly." He looked at Sakura. "Rest some more. Take good care of her, Sasuke."

Kizashi kissed his daughter goodbye on the forehead and walked out, leaving Sasuke and Sakura in the room. Sasuke looked at her as she sat down. She rubbed her eyes as if she was trying to hold back her tears and breathed out.

"Well, that was quite a lecture."

Sasuke furrowed his brows at her. "You knew the consequences...why?"

Sakura smiled at him. "I don't know...I guess I keep forgetting that I'm in a different country now. I'm not used to it yet..."

"...You really have a death sentence..."

Sakura's smile turned into a frown and he huffed at her. The corner of his lip rose to form a small smile.

"But it's not bad. I'm sorry for being a dick to you."

Sakura huffed. "Yesterday's Sasuke...is back..." She slowly stumbled forward and Sasuke broke her fall. "Ah, sorry Sasuke..."

"Damn, you're completely out of it. You really need rest."

"Get...Itachi..."

Sasuke raised a brow at her. "Why? I'm here."

"But it'd be weird...if you carried me back to my room."

"Wha-?! Your bodyguard does that stuff like that?"

"Well...he does it back home..."

"The people here are going to be weirded out if they see that."

Sakura then looked up at him, those same eyes that were staring at him the night before looking into his once again. "Then will you take me back?"

"Don't be stupid! I'll find a guard or something, just not Itachi or it'll be suspicious."

Sakura sighed, she felt heavier as her legs couldn't hold her weight anymore. Sasuke watched her slowly doze off and sighed to himself. "No other choice is there...damn it."

He lifted her up bridal style and walked out of the meeting room towards her bedroom. Sakura slowly opened her eyes and felt lighter. "Itachi?"

"It's Sasuke, damn. Put your arms around my neck, they're dangling awkwardly."

Sakura put her arms around Sasuke's neck and nuzzled her nose into his nape. Sasuke's breath hitched as he felt her breathe on his neck. "Girl thinks I'm Itachi...tch." He looked at the woman he was carrying as she slowly dozed off.

"Sakura-sama?!" said a panicked voice. Sasuke looked ahead of him and saw Itachi running towards them. For some reason he felt really really pissed off at his presence.

"Here," Sasuke said grimly, handing her over to Itachi's arms with force. "You know the way to her room right? Make sure you hurry up so no one sees you."

Itachi looked at Sakura and then at Sasuke. "It's kind of you to do this."

Sasuke glanced back and glared at him. "...and you're the worst kind of creature there is."

Itachi didn't respond and just walked away. Sasuke clicked his tongue and put his hands in his pockets, utterly confused with his feelings. One day he felt like cursing the hell out of her and the next it was like he wanted her to stay by his side so he could help her.

"Oi! Sasuke!"

Naruto ran up to him and punched his arm roughly as a greeting.

"Ow! Naruto, what the hell are you doing?!"

"You took too long! What'd you guys talk about with King Kizashi?"

"Nothing important, you're nosy."

Naruto rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Whatever you say, _master_."

"Ask Karin to come to my room tonight."

Naruto raised a brow and stopped in his tracks as Sasuke walked on. "Wait...what? I thought you were done doing those things."

"I don't care right now!" Sasuke snapped, hurriedly walking to his room.

Naruto ran up to him. "What the...what's this all of a sudden?"

"I need to reset."

"Reset what?"

"My fucking head."

Later on that night in Sasuke's room, he waited patiently under the covers for his visitor, half naked. It's been months since he'd last done it. Before the wedding, he made sure to cut off all ties with any sort of 'physical partner.' He didn't mind the idea of having concubines but the Linshore family was strictly monogamous and fooling around while being married to Sakura was more than likely going to cause him problems. His families were also mostly monogamous but the idea of having multiple wives wasn't completely frowned upon. But his brain wasn't thinking straight at this point.

There was a knock on the door and Sasuke sat at the edge of the bed. A woman walked in. There was a small smile on her face as she saw Sasuke waiting for her. She slowly started taking off her maid uniform and she let her red hair fall down and she slowly but steadily walked up to Sasuke.

"I was wondering when you were finally going to ask for me...it's been way too long..."

Sasuke took her glasses off and laid it on the bedside table. It was the same woman who tried hurting Sakura the day before, but Sasuke never knew that happened. He leaned in closer but she pushed him down. He smirked and his hands slid up the sides of her body and she leaned in to kiss him but first, she put a finger on his lips.

"Why'd you ask for me all of a sudden? I thought you didn't want to do this sort of thing anymore..."

"...I've just been thinking too much lately."

"Hmmm. That wife of yours causing you trouble?"

"You talk too much. Shut up and just do it."

"But we haven't done it in so long...let's take our time..."

Sasuke glared at her. "You better know your place. My needs aren't limited to you alone so don't go around thinking you're special. Hurry up."

Karin clicked her tongue, annoyed, as she leaned in to plant kisses on his chest.


	4. Chapter 4 - Confusion

"Nn..."

Sakura woke up and slowly sat up, feeling more awake than she did earlier that day when she had her meeting with her father. She looked outside her window and noticed that it was still nighttime.

"Must be a little past midnight..." She looked around the room and found Itachi sleeping on the futon that she had requested be put in her room for him. While she was going in and out sleep throughout the day, Itachi told her that Sasuke tried to carry her back to her room before handing her over to him. She then reminded herself of when he defended her when her dad was there. She didn't like him much but it wasn't like she hated him either. As a matter of fact, she was starting to grow somewhat fond of him.

"Sasuke huh..." she muttered to herself. "I wonder if he's awake right now...Mm..." She looked out the window again and sighed. "I'm going to be bored now that I'm up...might as well go do something."

She chuckled to herself thinking that Itachi would probably throw a fit if he woke up finding out that she had left. She got out of bed and looked around for a piece of paper and pen. After finding them, she wrote _'Be back soon, went to Sasuke's room to give my thanks.' _She looked at the note after she finished and nodded to herself and placed it next to Itachi before walking out.

On the way, she saw some guards patrolling around and they all kindly greeted her. She wasn't completely used to it yet but she liked being around them better than when she first came. She took her time on the way to Sasuke's room and looked at the walls, admiring the large portraits of the previous royal members of the Uchiha family. She thought that they were all beautiful people.

"Princess Sakura?"

Sakura's eyes widened and she whipped around to find Naruto with a shocked expression on his face.

"Ah! Naruto," she said with a big smile.

Naruto gulped and looked behind her towards Sasuke's room without responding. Sakura raised a brow at him and crossed her arms.

"Uh. Hello to you."

"Um, where are you going?" Naruto asked her, completely forgetting to greet her as he started fidgeting nervously.

"Sasuke's room," she responded, giving him a strange look before turning around and walking on.

Naruto's jaw slightly dropped in panic and he kept opening his mouth trying to find the right things to say.

"You must be on the way there too if you were walking this way right? Let's walk together. I want to get to know more about the people working here. I knew mostly everyone who worked at the palace in Linshore but I haven't had the chance to meet everyone here yet so...might as well start with my husband's most trusted friend and guard, right?"

"Ah...yeah."

"You know, Sasuke's not my favorite person in the world and he has an attitude, but there are good sides to him that I've seen already. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of those, not as a wife yet I think...but as a friend at least. But he gets annoying sometimes when he's...annoying."

"Wait! Princess Sakura!"

Sakura furrowed her brows and turned around. "Ah sorry, I'm talking too much aren't I?"

"No, you're fine."

"Then what's wrong?"

Naruto's mind flooded with excuses. If she walked into Sasuke's room right now and saw Karin, who knew what kind of reaction she'd make? Either way, things were going to go one way or the other tonight. "Sasuke doesn't like getting disturbed when he's asleep."

Sakura looked at Naruto and laughed. "You're scared of little angry Sasuke? I'm just going to see if he's awake. If not, I'll just leave." She turned back around and continued on walking.

Naruto hurriedly walked over to her. "Wait, it's not safe for you to be walking around here. I know that some of the guards like you now, but you _were_ our enemy so some of them might act hostile towards you."

Sakura sighed and punched his arm.

"Ow!"

"That's what you get. I can take a couple of guards myself so quit it already plus I don't think they're stupid enough to do that to your dear prince's wife. I'm just going to see if he's awake or not. What's the big deal?"

Naruto clenched his hands. Hopefully Sasuke and Karin were done already because all hell was going to break loose in about a couple of minutes.

"So...you gonna answer my question?"

"It's...no big deal."

Sakura squinted at him suspiciously. "The one time Itachi isn't with me and you can't even have a conversation with me without stammering. You _can_ be friendly with me, you know."

Sakura smiled at him and Naruto instantly felt guilty. They arrived at Sasuke's room and they could hear sounds of people shouting coming from inside. Sakura furrowed her brows in confusion and Naruto ran towards the door, blocking Sakura's way and pressing his back against it. "Princess Sakura, now really isn't a good time to-."

There were sounds of running footsteps and the door quickly opened and Naruto gasped, almost falling backwards before Sakura grabbed onto his arm to help him from falling.

Sakura's eyes widened as she saw the maid who tried to trip her a couple of days ago. She was in the middle of buttoning up her uniform and her bra was clearly showing. Sakura looked at her up and down with muddled thoughts and still in confusion.

"Shit..." Naruto muttered. "Karin."

Karin froze at the sight of Sakura. "You bitch! This is all because of you!" All of a sudden, she raised a hand to slap her but Sasuke smacked it away before it could hit her.

"I want you out of this place by tomorrow afternoon."

Sakura's jaw dropped at the sudden remark and Karin bit her lip before running away terrified. Sakura looked at Sasuke in shock, completely ignoring the fact that he was half naked. She then looked at Naruto and let go of him and looked away with a disgusted expression before walking up to Sasuke.

"What's the meaning of this?" Sakura snapped. "I can't believe you just fired her like that! What did you do to that poor girl? Did you and Naruto plan some sick joke on her?"

Naruto crossed his arms with a big frown. "But she was rude and a terrible maid anyways!"

"That's not the point. What did you do?"

Sasuke clicked his tongue and walked away from her towards his bed. "There you go again. Unnecessarily worrying about other people...You don't know anything so stop assuming things. It's what _didn't_ happen that got her so worked up, alright? This sucks. Why are you even here? Were you going on one of your stupid adventures around the palace again? It's late already."

"You're ignoring my question! It wasn't an accident that I came here!"

Sasuke ignored her and sat on his bed, resting his back on the headboard.

"Wow. Okay, don't respond. Here I was thinking about thanking you for what you did for me earlier today."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Wait...so you were coming to see me?"

"Bingo, asshole."

Sasuke turned away from her, feeling awkward and not knowing what to say.

"You're a handful, you know that?" She walked up to him to yell at him some more but then stopped as her eyes met his bare chest.

Sasuke looked at her and followed her gaze down to his chest and sees the hickey that Karin had left earlier. "Oh fuck..." he grumbled. He then looked at Sakura who had an expression that he'd never seen before and suddenly had the urge to come up with justifications. "Really, nothing happened." He slowly started getting up from his bed but Sakura only stepped backwards. Sasuke furrowed his brows at her and she turned around to leave quietly. Naruto was still standing awkwardly at the doorway.

"I'm sorry, Princess Sakura..."

Sakura only sighed and walked past Naruto but Sasuke followed and put a hand on her shoulder to say something. She turned to look at him but her gaze made him unable to speak and she forcefully pulled herself away from him.

"Sakura-sama!"

Sasuke's eyes widened and the group looked outside to see Itachi running towards them.

"Itachi..." Sakura muttered. She then looked at Sasuke, not able to meet his eyes. "I don't want to talk to you for the time being so don't try to talk to me...horny bastard."

Sasuke's jaw dropped and Naruto snickered. They watched Sakura go to Itachi, who looked very worried as he waved a note around her face and scolded her for leaving the room without him. Sasuke cursed under his breath and walked over to his bed before burying his face into his pillow. Naruto watched Itachi and Sakura leave and then looked at Sasuke. "Weeeeeell, always fucking things up, aren't we?"

Sasuke sat up and grumbled to himself. Naruto closed the door and walked in, grabbing a chair to sit across from him.

"I'm not in the mood to talk," Sasuke said.

"What happened to you and Karin?" Naruto asked, ignoring him. He thought Sasuke was going to punch him to get out of the room but he started ranting anyways.

"Nothing, man. That's the thing. _Nothing_." Sasuke buried his hands in his hair in irritation. "She was bragging about how she tried to trip Sakura the other day and called her worthless and then I don't know. I got pissed off and pushed her away and told her to leave. All that happened was this damn hickey."

Naruto's tapped his knee curiously. "So you tried to sleep with Karin to 'reset you head' because you got jealous of Sakura and Itachi, but then you got upset when Karin started badmouthing Princess Sakura..." He then chuckled. "You're confusing, man."

"I wasn't jealous!" Sasuke snapped. "It just pisses me off that she's always relying on that asshole."

Naruto sighed and crossed his arms and legs. "What's your deal with him? He hasn't done anything but you're always pissed off at him."

Sasuke didn't respond and Naruto just rolled his eyes. "Okay so...nothing really did happen then."

Sasuke glared at him. "What's the point of lying about that?"

"Mm...dunno. Maybe because you didn't want Princess Sakura to know. Maybe you were worried about what she was going to think."

Sasuke kept on glaring at him and Naruto shrugged. "I'm just being honest, man. You should be too."

Naruto got up and left. Sasuke groaned and lay back on his pillow, resting his head on his hands. After that, he had the hardest time sleeping for the rest of the night.

* * *

Early the next day, Sakura was going through control training with her aunt Tsunade, just as her father had told her. It started off rough since Sakura was still somewhat tired after her sleeping pattern got disturbed from the whole day of sleep the day before. As a result, she had the hardest time focusing. Using her hands separately, she was supposed to heal two fish that Tsunade had stabbed and save them at the same time.

"Stop stop," Tsunade said, walking up to Sakura.

Sakura slammed her hands on the table in frustration as Tsunade smacked Sakura's back with great force. "Your focus isn't where it needs to be right now. Go get some fresh air."

"No. I can keep going."

"At this rate, you'll overdo it. You're supposed to heal both of these at the same time so you can learn how to control the flow of your power but you're giving off too much power on one hand and not enough on the other. It has to be balanced or you'll keep wasting precious energy. These fish were given from the fishermen at Linshore so I don't want to waste any more. Go cool off."

"But-"

Itachi went up to Sakura and flicked her forehead. "Come on Sakura-sama."

Sakura clicked her tongue and went along with it and followed him out of the palace ward. Tsunade huffed and watched them leave, shaking her head. "I'm going to have to stay another day if this keeps up."

There was silence as Itachi and Sakura walked towards the training grounds outside of the palace. Sakura usually had something to talk about but she was completely quiet.

"Are you still bothered by what happened last night?"

"Not in particular..."

Itachi frowned and Sakura still didn't say anything.

"...Honestly, I didn't think it would bother you this much. Although it's rare nowadays, some of the Uchiha did have concubines back in the day."

Sakura rubbed her arm. "I know...but even so, it still sucks knowing that the person I call my husband does those things."

"It's not like you guys are in love with each other or anything. Don't feel obligated."

She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "It still bugs me..."

When they arrived at the training grounds, the place was loud with the cries of men as they practiced kendo with their bamboo sticks, the firing of guns, the whipping sounds of the bows and arrows, and the scolding of the instructors as some soldiers missed their targets.

"Man, looking at them makes me feel bad. They're training so hard." She looked at Itachi as he gazed upon the soldiers with admiration. She smiled lightly and thought of Linshore.

"Yeah...they remind me of the soldiers back home. We're all the same no matter how you look at it," Itachi said.

They then fixated their eyes on two men that were practicing kendo. One of them in particular kept getting critical hits from his opponent. With a thrust of his sword, the opponent hit him once more.

"Damn it!" The man took off his protective mask and threw it to the ground. It was none other than Sasuke. The other man also took off his mask and it wound up being Naruto.

"Come on, don't give up, Sasuke! This is a good way to clear that head of yours. You need practice anyways, you suck!"

Sasuke left the sword area angrily and went towards the shooting range and took one of the guns from one of the soldiers and stood in his lane. He aimed it at the human paper targets and emptied all the rounds, hitting all of the critical spots which were the head and the chest area.

Itachi's eyes widened. "He's terrible at swordsmanship but he knows how to handle a gun."

Sasuke smirked and handed his empty gun to one of the astonished soldiers whose eyes were on the ruined target. "And that my dear soldier is how you do it."

The soldier bowed. "Yes, your highness!"

"YOU HEAR THAT BOYS?! GET YOUR ASS MOVING AND HIT THOSE DAMN TARGETS PROPERLY!" yelled one of the instructors.

Naruto shook his head but was smiling nonetheless. Sasuke let out a huff and wiped his forehead and took off the rest of his kendo protective gear and threw it at Naruto. "Take care of that for me will you? I'm taking a break."

"Lazy ass..." Sakura grumbled as Sasuke started walking their direction. Sasuke lifted his head after fixing his shirt and slowed his pace as he saw Sakura and Itachi watching him.

Sakura furrowed her brows at him and turned away to head back inside the palace. "Let's go Itachi. I'm pumped. I'm not going to let him show me up."

"...right."

Sasuke glared at them as they tried to ignore him. "Oi! Oi, wait!"

As Sasuke's footsteps drew closer, Sakura grabbed Itachi's long sleeve and pulled him along with her as she tried to hurry inside but her attempts deemed futile as Sasuke grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. Itachi grabbed Sasuke's arm in retaliation and pushed him aside.

"What?" Itachi asked, glaring.

"I'm trying to talk to my wife so if you could move aside, _Mr. Guard_."

Itachi furrowed his eyes at him and looked at Sakura as if asking for an order to do something but she was trying to free herself from Sasuke's grip instead.

Sasuke then moved in closer to his ear and whispered quietly. "Know your place."

Itachi moved back and glared at him. Sakura looked at the both of them and she kicked Sasuke in the shin.

"What the hell-ow!"

"Are you threatening him?!"

"Damn woman. Come with me." Sasuke pulled her forcefully and dragged her with him into the palace but Itachi stubbornly followed, maintaining a gap between himself and the other two. Sasuke sighed and turned around to look at Itachi. "I told you to leave us for a minute, didn't I?"

Itachi didn't respond and Sasuke just clicked his tongue and kept on going. "Stubborn..."

"Hey! Slow down a min-where are we going?!" Sakura tried to pull away and Sasuke's grip only got tighter. She winced at the slight pain but he didn't notice.

"Prince Sasuke. You're gripping too tightly," said Itachi.

Sasuke stopped and looked back as she tried to wriggle free from his grip. He sighed and loosened it and they eventually arrived at his room. Sasuke looked at Itachi and pointed at him then at the floor. "You, stay out here."

"If you promise that you won't do anything," Itachi told him.

Sasuke glared at him in response and went into his room with Sakura, closing the door shut before locking it and letting go of Sakura's wrist. Sakura panicked and backed away from him but Sasuke stayed with his back to the door, not moving.

"I'm not going to do anything weird to you."

"Obviously not or else Itachi would kill you!"

Sasuke sighed and ran his hand through his slightly sweaty hair. "Itachi, Itachi...Listen. I just want to talk."

"Well, I don't want to. I told you not to talk to me for the time being!" Sakura huffed and went to the opposite side of the room. She leaned against the wall and the both of them looked at each other quietly as she rubbed her wrists and shook her hands to relieve the pain.

Sasuke sighed. "I'm sorry if I hurt them."

"Shut up."

Sasuke huffed out of his nose in annoyance. "...How's your training?"

The skin between Sakura's eyes wrinkled as she looked at him with a confused expression.

"It's...fine. None of your business."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Listen. About last night...I swear that nothing happened."

Sakura pursed her lips together and looked at him. His eyes didn't waver and the tone of his voice seemed stern enough, but she still couldn't help but feel upset.

"I don't care if nothing happened between you two or not. Fact of the matter is, you were thinking about doing it with her."

Sasuke groaned and pushed himself off the door and walked over to her. "Okay, that was dumb of me but nothing happened. I brushed her off before it went any further! Isn't that enough?"

"You're so confusing! You're mean, then you're nice, and then you're with another woman even though I'm your wife, and then you're mean and then the cycle happens all over again! I know we've just recently started getting to know each other, but damn you could at least tell me! It's not like I like you or anything...but it still sucks when the person I call my husband is doing these things behind my back."

Sasuke scoffed and furrowed his brows at her. "Do you really have the right to say that?"

Her eyes widened in surprise as he walked closer. "Back off or I will hit you again."

"I'm asking if you have the right to say that I can't go off and do things with other women."

Sakura gasped in annoyance. "Are you seriously asking me that question? I know your family isn't against the idea of concubines but at least tell me! I'm not used to it, you know! For generations, our families have always been monogamous so this is all new to me!"

"Do you have the right?!"

Sakura flinched at the rise in his voice and pressed herself even further into the wall, but there was no escape. Sasuke clicked his tongue angrily and put a hand on the wall beside her head as he used his other hand to raise her chin so she could meet his eyes.

"Do you have the right to say that...when you yourself are looking at someone else already?"

Sakura raised her eyebrows and turned away from him. "I don't know what you mean."

"I'm talking about Itachi."

Sakura glared at him. "Stop saying things like that. It's not like that."

"Yeah right. I bet you guys have done things together already."

Sakura smacked a hand across his cheek angrily and Sasuke stiffened as he looked at her, bewildered that she even dared to hit him.

"Itachi is just someone I'm very grateful to, Sasuke. I haven't done anything with him."

"That's not what it looks like. Didn't you think that that frustrated me too? You're always with him. You say that we should make this treaty worth something but then you don't even give me a chance to apologize to you when I know for a fact that I've messed up! I'm sorry already...just don't hate me."

Sakura was at a loss for words and she huffed in frustration and pushed him away and went towards the door.

"Are you seriously walking away?"

"You just wanted to talk right? Are you done?"

Sasuke paused before answering and rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. I tried."

Sakura turned slightly to look at him before looking at the ground and unlocking the door and leaving the room. She then saw Itachi outside waiting for her.

"Ah, Sakura-sama.."

Sakura looked at him and slid her hand down her face before stopping at her mouth. She didn't know that Sasuke felt that way about Itachi and she didn't know that she had also hurt him. But she was too stubborn to accept it and couldn't believe that Sasuke was the type to feel like that. The friendship and relationship that she had tried to achieve with Sasuke was once again back at square one.


	5. Chapter 5 - Poison

"You got it!"

Tsunade tousled Sakura's pink hair. Sakura smiled lightly and looked at the fish that were flopping around, alive, and put the both of them in the bucket full of the other live fish.

"That's the fourth time you were able to do it today. I think you've finally gotten it. See, wasn't that hard right?"

Sakura nodded. "Once you get it, it's not so hard the next few times."

Tsunade grinned. "Seems like I can go home earlier than expected today. I was worried that you weren't going to be able to use your powers properly this time either."

"What do you take me for," Sakura muttered.

"I'm just kidding. By the way, where's Itachi? I'm surprised that overprotective mystery isn't with you today."

Tsunade looked around the ward and put her hands on her hips. Sakura sat on a chair and stretched her legs to relieve the soreness after standing on them for so long. "He had some important matters to attend to outside of the palace apparently."

"Huh. I saw him before I got here though."

Sakura raised a brow at her. "Wait really?"

Tsunade paused for a moment and tapped her hip impatiently. "Yeah he was with the king."

Sakura crossed her arms. "Huh, that's weird." She recalled the time when Naruto mentioned that Sasuke and Itachi had met with the king once.

Tsunade noticed her uneasy expression and stretched her arms out and scratched her head. "You mind if I take a nap before I leave today? I'm tired from all the yelling."

Sakura stifled a laugh and bowed in thanks. "You can stay in the guest room for as long as you like, Aunt Tsunade. Just fetch me whenever you're ready so I can see you off."

Tsunade waved goodbye and Sakura walked out of the ward and clenched her hands happily, feeling much confident about her powers. She was finally able to control how much energy she could use when healing someone. It was tough but with enough practice, she knew she could get the hang of it. On the way to her room, she found some maids cleaning around. She thought of Karin and frowned. Karin really did leave the palace after the incident with Sasuke.

Right before she arrived to her room, she saw guards running past her. She had never seen them looking so excited and curiosity got the best of her as she followed them. They led her towards the stairs leading down to the first floor and the entrance hall. The guards ran down and she peered over the stairs and saw a man with dark black hair entering with plenty of other guards following behind him, greeting him. Shivers went down her spine as she felt something uncomfortable coming from him. She saw the king and Sasuke meet the mysterious man but she noticed that Sasuke's face did not look happy.

"Welcome back," said Fugaku, Sasuke's father.

"Good to see you, brother," the man replied. He then looked at Sasuke and smiled at him. "Good to see you, my dear nephew."

Sasuke looked at him expressionlessly. "Welcome back, uncle."

His uncle looked around excitedly. "Been a while huh. What, eight months, I think? Sorry I couldn't attend your pretty little wedding."

Sasuke rolled his eyes in annoyance and Fugaku frowned. "You're riling him up, brother."

"He's a big boy. It's fine if I bully him a little." The man grinned and patted Sasuke's head, but Sasuke only flicked his hand away and turned around to leave.

His uncle chuckled and Fugaku furrowed his brows. "Sasuke. Don't be rude."

"I'm not going to give some special treatment to a murderer."

Sakura watched Sasuke leave the hall and felt disappointed since she was unable to hear any of the conversation. She sighed and walked back to her room. When she opened the door, she almost shrieked.

"Itachi!"

Itachi whipped around, walking towards her. "Sakura-sama...I was wondering were you were since you weren't at the ward."

She put a hand on her chest and sighed in relief. "Damn don't scare me like that." She sat at the edge of the bed and crossed her legs. "What did you do today?"

"Nothing interesting..."

"When was having a meeting with the Ferravea king not interesting?"

Itachi froze for a moment before heaving a deep sigh. "Who told you?"

"Aunt Tsunade told me she saw you with him earlier. You should do a better job with keeping these meetings a secret if it's something you can't tell me."

"It's not supposed to be secretive."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"I just didn't want to worry you."

Sakura rested her elbows on them on her knees, looking at him curiously. "Are they threatening you, Itachi?"

Before he could answer, there was a knock on her door and Sasuke walked in. He made eye contact with Sakura and she looked away, not knowing what to say.

"Father wants our presence at the grand dining hall in five minutes. There's a special guest that he wants to introduce to you. Wear something nice."

Sakura nodded and Sasuke kept his gaze on her for a brief moment and left.

"Well that was quite awkward. How long are you guys going to keep this up, I wonder?" asked Itachi.

"I'm just trying to get my head together." Sakura groaned as she looked through her closet. "Dressing up is no habit of mine and I really miss my Linshore cloak..."

"Just make do with what you have."

"Alright..."

After finally finding a suitable dress, Sakura and Itachi hurriedly walked over to the dining hall. They stopped at the entrance and saw a long table seated with very important royal officials.

"Ah! Princess Sakura," said one of the maids, walking up to her. She bowed to her and showed a hand towards the head of the table. Sakura saw Sasuke's parents at the very end and saw Sasuke sitting along the side with an empty seat next to him. "The seat next to Sasuke-sama has been saved for you."

The maid then looked at Itachi and gulped. She then stood on her toes and whispered into Sakura's ear. "I'm sorry but he can't sit at the table."

"It's fine. I know this is an important luncheon."

Sakura looked at Itachi whose eyes were looking far into the room. She followed his gaze and saw Naruto who was standing against the wall keeping guard. Even though Naruto had a quirky sense of humor, he was always attentive when it came to work and would even go so far as to killing someone for Sasuke's sake.

Sakura stayed poise and walked to her seat. There was an intense aura in the room and she could feel the animosity from some of the generals and other commanding officers. It felt like forever walking to the end of the table with the silence in the room. When she made it to her seat, she bowed to King Fugaku and Queen Mikoto to greet them.

Mikoto kindly smiled at her and Fugaku tilted his head downwards, acknowledging her presence and lending out a hand, telling her to sit. She met eyes with Sasuke who eyed her dress before turning away. She slowly sat down and looked at who was sitting across from her. Her eyebrows raised in the slightest as the man in front of her was the man who Sasuke and the king had met earlier. The man smiled at her and Sakura smiled back politely. Sasuke glanced at her and then at his uncle as he took a sip from his cup.

Fugaku stood up and raised his glass. "Well then, good afternoon everyone. Thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedule to make it here this afternoon. As you all know already, my brother has returned from his journey and we are here to celebrate his return and our finally, our expansion into the east."

Sakura's eyes widened and she looked at the man in front of her in shock. The man smiled at her once more and she awkwardly looked away to focus her attention back on the king. Usually, expansion meant war.

Sasuke furrowed his brows as his father sat down and his uncle stood up to continue.

"Very nice to see you all again. It was quite a battle but yes, we claim our victory and our expansion into the east. I don't want to talk much about it since we are about to indulge in this feast. Seems like lots of things have changed while I was gone." He glanced at Sakura. "Lots of things. But I'm glad to be back home and to see you all here once more."

Fugaku stood up again. "And now a toast to my brother, Madara."

Sakura froze at the name and claps rung out in the hall as officials drank from their cups. She recognized the name clearly. Madara was the strongest general in the land of Ferravea. Not only was he strong and intelligent, but he was also known for having a heart of stone for he was notorious for declaring war against Linshore back when Linshore tried declaring peace. Some say it's his way of rebelling for not being able to get the throne despite being the eldest.

Sasuke glanced at Sakura and saw the uneasiness in her expression as Madara and Fugaku sat back down.

"So!" Madara said, looking at Sakura. "Nice to finally meet you."

Sakura furrowed her brows. "You're Madara."

"So you've heard about me?"

Sakura nodded and he sighed. "Then you must have ill feelings towards me."

"...I don't judge someone without getting to know them first."

Madara smiled at her. "How kind of you. Now, less talking and more eating yes? Go ahead and eat."

The way he asked her to made her feel very uncomfortable and Sakura poked at her food. Sasuke glanced at her plate and took a stab at the chicken. Her jaw dropped as he took a bite without a care in the world.

"...Mm. It's good," he said, chewing loudly.

Mikoto covered her lips in shock and Fugaku furrowed his brows at his son. Madara silently watched and chuckled. "How noble of you, Sasuke. Were you checking the food for poison? Quite the husband, aren't you?"

Sakura looked at Sasuke, stunned that Sasuke had those kinds of intentions. She looked at Madara and shook her head. "I doubt that was the reason, general..."

Madara stifled a short laugh before taking a bite out of his own food. "I wouldn't blame you, Sasuke."

The mood fell grim and Madara put his elbows on the table, crossed his fingers, and rested his chin on it. "I wouldn't blame you because after all, I'm not particularly fond of Linshore."

"Madara!" Fugaku snapped.

Sakura glared at Madara. "You're quite unpleasant, sir."

Madara's eyes widened and Sasuke snorted, trying to hold in his laughter. Fugaku and Mikoto were surprised that she snapped at him, but couldn't really blame her.

"You're a feisty one," Madara said quietly. "I wonder what your kids are going to be like."

Fugaku almost choked on his food and Sasuke dropped his fork. Sakura didn't make any reaction.

"Kids?! Don't say such things so soon!" Sasuke snapped.

"It has to happen eventually. We're going to need an heir someday."

Fugaku patted the corners of his mouth with his table napkin before speaking. "Madara. This isn't the sort of conversation that we should we having right now."

Madara ignored his brother and tapped his finger on the table. "Imagine what would happen if you mixed Haruno and Uchiha blood...that child would be pretty amazing...anything would be -"

"That's enough," Fugaku said, slamming his hand down on table. Madara raised his hands in innocence and went back to eating his food.

Sakura furrowed her brows. She's only heard of the Uchiha power once but no one has ever fully explained it to her as it was kept top secret. Even the generals in Linshore who had been at war with Ferravea in the old times had no idea what it was. All they knew was that only certain people of the Uchiha possessed and it was a rare power.

"Let's go. This is getting uncomfortable," Sasuke said, grabbing Sakura's hand and standing up. Sakura's eyes widened as he bowed to his parents. "I'll see you guys later."

"But Sakura hasn't eaten yet..." Mikoto muttered.

"It's fine." Sasuke looked at Madara. "I can't stand to sit one more minute with this man."

Madara smirked at his nephew and Sasuke felt angrier but stopped to do anything stupid as his father gave him a warning glare. Sasuke pulled Sakura along with him and Sakura turned her head and gave a small bow to his parents before he led her out, leaving the other guests at the table confused.

Itachi and Naruto who had been watching the whole scene were surprised to see them. Itachi instinctively stepped away from his position to follow them and Naruto stopped him. Itachi looked at him and Naruto huffed.

"I think it's time we leave those two alone, right? You've been getting in the way too much."

Itachi glared at him and Naruto shrugged. "I'm just being honest. It's affecting them and you know it. They need to work this out."

"I don't care. I don't trust him."

Naruto's raised a brow at him in confusion. "You're doing too much for a guard you know that?"

Back in the hall, Sasuke and Sakura quietly walked on hand in hand. She looked at their hands and felt the urge to let go. As she tried to, Sasuke's grip only got tighter.

"Don't try to let go."

"I still don't trust you one bit."

Sasuke didn't respond.

"Honestly, stop it and let me go already."

"You're one stubborn girl."

"YOU ARE TOO!" Sakura fumed and huffed angrily through her nose.

Sasuke chuckled and glanced behind her before gripping tightly. Surprised at the gesture, Sakura quietly followed.

"I'm sorry if my uncle made you feel uncomfortable."

Sakura's eyed widened. "You're apologizing for him?"

"Honestly, I hate him. More than I've ever hated anyone from Linshore. He's the absolute worst."

Sakura furrowed her brows as she stared at his back. "Wait, can you let go and can we talk about this like normal people?"

Sasuke turned around and looked at their hands and let go. Sakura looked at her hand and then at Sasuke as he waited for her to walk alongside him, which she did.

"So...why do you hate him?"

"...I have my reasons."

"Hm..." There was a quick silence, but that wasn't surprising since they were fighting just yesterday. But he was different again today and Sakura knew it was that cycle of mean-nice all over again. "Did you really check my food for poison?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Who knows?"

"That was reckless. What would you have done if there really was poison in the food?"

"You worried about me?" Sasuke asked smugly, his eyebrow raised as his mouth displayed a smirk.

Sakura scoffed. "No, you should've eaten more."

Sasuke furrowed his brows and she laughed lightly. "I'm just kidding."

They continued on walking and Sakura glanced at him occasionally, trying to figure out if this was the same Sasuke from the day before. He was unexpectedly calm but he was once again defending her. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"He's so fucking annoying, man...what's this talk about kids..." He then glanced at Sakura who was already looking at him and they both looked away surprised.

Sakura didn't respond and Sasuke looked at her again before looking ahead. "You know, you didn't have much of a reaction when he mentioned it. I feel like I was the only one who freaked out."

"Well...he's not entirely wrong."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he stopped to look at her, arms crossed in disapproval. "Are you serious?"

"It has to happen one day, Sasuke."

Sasuke held his hands up. "Fuck. No."

Sakura's jaw dropped. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Would you really be okay with that?" Sasuke scoffed and Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. "Do you seriously see that happening? Be honest with yourself."

Sakura groaned and waved her hands around in annoyance. "Damn it, this is just going to lead into another fight isn't it."

"You just don't look like the type of girl who'd sleep with just anyone and I'm not about to force you."

Sakura looked at him awkwardly. "That's what you were worried about?"

"Like I keep saying...and I don't care if you get upset with me again...but you have someone else in your eyes. Even if I don't really like him much, I can't just ignore your feelings."

She quietly looked away. "...There has to be an heir someday. You can't deny that."

Sasuke furrowed his brows angrily and grabbed her shoulders. "What kind of answer is that?! Be selfish for yourself, for once!"

Sakura's eyes widened in shock as Sasuke huffed angrily. He hung his head low and looked into her eyes again.

"Have you ever done something for _yourself _ever? I hate that pushover attitude of yours. You can't make everyone happy if you yourself can't be. What good is a country if its ruler is unhappy? It pisses me off when you put up that good girl attitude."

Sasuke released his grip from his shoulders and looked down at her pitifully. However, Sakura was lost in his eyes once again and she peered deep and hard into them. Sasuke furrowed his brows and watched her draw in closer just like she did before. It was those eyes of curiosity that had led him astray in the first place. He frowned and put a hand on her face, snapping her out of her daze, and pushed her away.

"Ow! What was that for!"

"You completely ignored what I just said and watch your distance." Sasuke grumbled. "You're getting way too close for comfort...AGAIN."

Sakura sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Crap...what the hell."

"Why do you do that?"

Sakura looked at him again and then thought for a moment before bringing a finger up to her lips. "Your eyes...remind me of someone's."

Sasuke flinched and he slowly clenched his fists. "That kind of pisses me off."

Sakura didn't respond but then she spoke up. "...I'm sorry for getting really upset with you yesterday about your maid. Especially after you tried making amends."

He sighed, somewhat flustered. "Yeah."

There was an awkward silence and Sasuke cleared his throat. "You look nice in that dress, by the way."

Sakura raised a brow at him playfully. "Smooth. I really wanted to wear my cloak though. Freaking aunt Tsunade forgot to bring one back from Linshore..."

Sasuke recalled the time when she ripped out a piece of her royal cloak to make bandages for the dying man at the market and...Itachi. He felt himself tinge in anger but he calmed himself down as he took in a deep breath. He glanced at her and noticed her somewhat solemn expression. That cloak must have meant a lot to her and it showed that she really did cherish her country and her people.

"What's the deal with that cloak?"

"Well...it was given to me when I turned 16. It was a big deal back then."

Sasuke listened quietly.

"Well, of course that was two years ago so I guess it was time for a new one...Oh well." She looked at Sasuke. "This is good."

Sasuke raised a brow at her curiously. "What?"

"Talking like this. I like it when we can just talk like this. When we're not trying to claw each other's eyes out."

Sasuke scoffed. "Quick turnaround from yesterday after you walked on me."

"I apologized already. Well...you did try to check my food for poison..." Sakura looked up at him and smiled. "I guess I do trust you a little and I don't know if that's what you were really trying to do since you keep denying it...but thank you anyway."

At that moment, his eyes wandered down to her lips and she continued to look up at him, waiting for a response like 'You're welcome' or 'Yeah no problem'. But he was quiet and he looked at her. Sakura saw his eyes moving around as he examined her facial features curiously. She gulped, trying not to make any weird faces before looking away.

"I'm going to go check on my aunt now. She's leaving soon."

Sasuke blinked, realizing what he just did and tried to keep his cool and faked a stoic expression. "Alright. I'll...see you later then."

Sakura nodded and left, but not before turning back to glance at him once more. He was such a different person when he wasn't acting like a totally demon towards her. She looked back head and looked at the hand he held and chuckled to herself. She hoped that this cycle of him being mean and nice would just come to a stop. She liked him so much better when he was nicer.

Sasuke turned back around to go to his room and looked at his hand. He closed and opened it a few times, rubbing his thumb on the side of his hand before clenching his hand completely.

"Seems like you had a nice conversation."

Sasuke looked up and his smile turned into a frown instantly.

"Why the fuck do I keep running into to you at the worst times?" Sasuke remembered when this also happened that time he tried to bring Sakura back to her room.

"Where's Sakura-sama?"

"You were following us again, weren't you?"

"I wasn't for a while for the sake of your friend Naruto but then I got worried. Seems like you really have taken a liking to her."

Sasuke glared at him. "Seems like I'm not the only one."

Itachi ignored him and walked past him. "I'm going to check up on her. Walk back safely, _your highness_."

Sasuke turned around and grabbed Itachi by the shoulder and turned him around.

"How long are you going to keep this up? Are you really going to go through with this?! She trusts you and she really cares about you!"

"It's my duty."

"Are you ever going to tell her?"

"Are _you_?"

Sasuke didn't answer and Itachi smacked his hand off his shoulder.

"So you really don't care about her? For all those 12 years you've watched over her?"

"...Just stop. It's none of your concern."

"But-"

"Back off, _little brother _or I _will_ tell uncle Madara and father that you're trying to spoil everything."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he glared at Itachi as he turned around to head towards Sakura's room. Itachi then stopped and turned his head to look at Sasuke.

"You will not speak a word of this to her or to anyone. Not like they'll believe you or anything anyway."

Sasuke quietly but angrily watched his brother walk away. He turned to go to his room as he clenched his stomach in disgust.

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**A/N: **Hello loves. *smirk smirk. Thank you for the reviews and all the luuuuv. You guys are the greatest. I have a terrible headache right now because of this long chapter LOL *_* I might be posting the next chapter on Saturday because I'll be out of town in Thursday and possibly Friday. If I have internet around those times, NO WORRIES. I gotchu guys. If I don't update though, then that means that I probably don't have internet during those days :(( Anyways, have a great week, all!

**A/N 3/28/15: **There were some difficulties with updating the chapter so I'll be updating on Monday. Until then!


	6. Chapter 6 - Brother

"You've gotten soft, Sasuke."

Sasuke remained quiet as his uncle walked behind him and his chair, placing his hands on his nephew's shoulders. In the room were Sasuke, his father, Madara, some royal officials, and his brother Itachi.

Sasuke's eyes didn't waver and he glanced at his brother who had his back leaning against the wall with his arms and legs crossed. Sasuke clenched his hands into tight fists, feeling the urge to hit everything and everyone in the room.

"I don't get what you mean..." Sasuke grumbled, trying to avoid a confrontation in the face of all the higher ups in the room.

"Well..." Madara bent over to look the side of his face and he chuckled to himself. "Never mind." Madara then walked over to his own seat and sat down, crossing his hands over the table. "Good to see you all again. Now that everything has fall into place, let us start this meeting. Itachi, will you share with us what you've learned?"

Everyone in the room went silent, prepared to listen to Itachi, none other than Sakura's bodyguard. Without hesitation, he spoke. "Linshore is a strong country. Their people are strong-willed just like the royal family. It will be hard to take them down. Sakura isn't the type of woman to bow down to anyone so subduing her will be hard also. She's strong and stubborn and has potential that not even I can see."

Madara looked at Itachi and tapped his fingers on the table. "That's it?"

"She's stubborn."

Sasuke raised a brow and looked at Itachi suspiciously as Madara crossed his fingers over his mouth. Fugaku also looked at Itachi with a confused expression.

"You know, I always wondered why you stopped writing to me about what was going on in Linshore. Your work as a spy wasn't very fruitful."

Itachi tapped the holster of his gun before walking around the room towards his seat and answered politely. "I didn't want them to get suspicious so I played it safe and decided not to write to you, I apologize."

Madara sighed. "Well, it seems like she's entrusted her life to you so you've done well in deceiving her.

Sasuke clicked his tongue quietly and dug his fingernails into his hands as he clenched them tightly, trying to stop himself from saying anything that would deem him distrustful and take him off of the plan.

"But Itachi. It also looks like you've gotten soft."

Itachi looked at Madara. "I'm just making sure I don't give myself away to her. She's sharp and any mistakes would be detrimental to our plans."

Madara quietly crossed his fingers over his mouth and looked at him with a serious expression. "Can I really still trust you?"

"My loyalty still lies to my family."

"You know what would happen if you happen to betray us, don't you?"

Fugaku looked at Madara angrily. "You will not lay a hand on my son."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Says the one who sent him away for 12 years after lying about his death to his own people."

"Sasuke." Fugaku said sternly, looking at him with a deathly glare. Sasuke looked away and crossed his arms. "You will not talk back to me again. It was something we had to do." Fugaku looked at Itachi who avoided his eyes.

"They're right, Sasuke," said Obito, a general in charge of the army who was Madara's prodigy. "With the birth of a new heir to the Linshore family, much less to a girl, it's the perfect opportunity to end the Haruno bloodline and their kingdom. The queen of Linshore can't bear any more children due to some complications at childbirth. Luckily for us, they're a monogamous bunch so we don't have to worry about another heir. Sakura being an only child will make it easier for us to get rid of her and the rest of Linshore."

"And who knows what kind of power this child would possess later on down the road?" said another official.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"Don't you know? The women of Linshore born into the royal family are stronger compared to the men."

Sasuke raised a brow and the official sighed, noticing Sasuke's ignorance to the topic and looked at Fugaku.

"Your highness, why doesn't the prince know these things?"

Fugaku glared at Sasuke. "He should. He probably never paid attention to his mentors."

Sasuke awkwardly looked away and the official rubbed his temples in frustration for having to explain it.

"When the women of the royal family give birth to their children, there is an exchange of power between mother and child and the mother gains some of their child's power and vice versa."

"So what about Sakura's mother? She was married into the royal family and I've heard that she also possesses the power. How is that possible when she's not a direct descendant?"

"It's...confusing," Itachi answered. "You see, once they were united in bed, that's when his wife was able to gain their power. However, her power is weak compared to the women born _into_ the royal family. Make sense?"

Sasuke listened to him and nodded, despite his feelings of hostility towards him. "So basically, it's only the true royal family that has this power."

"Right. Like Sakura, her father, her father's sister Tsunade, Sakura's grandmother, and her grandmother's father. Like that. The power also doesn't get weaker throughout the generations."

Sasuke snorted. "So...the people who got married to the true royal family were able to gain the power through...sex."

The room fell awkwardly silent and Sasuke's eyes widened. "Wait, seriously?"

Itachi sighed. "No, it's not just sex. There's more to it than just sex. It's a complicating process...there's a reason for why they stay monogamous."

Sasuke took a glance at Itachi who seemed to be uncomfortable as they continued talking about the secrets of the Haruno power.

One of the officials nodded. "The myth goes that unless it's someone they've truly devoted their lives to, the power won't get passed on to anyone else besides that person. It's like a contract. Even if the king of Linshore wanted another heir, the power won't ever get passed on to his concubine or their child. But again, they're not those kinds of people and the king wouldn't bother to think about doing it with anyone else besides his wife."

Sasuke quietly listened and reminded himself of the time when Sakura got angry with him for trying to sleep with Karin. "Monogamous huh..." he muttered quietly.

Sasuke then added. "What about the men who get married into the royal family lineage?"

Madara smirked. "You mean like you?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I'm just wondering."

"The power still gets passed on to you but like we said, it's not going to be as strong."

Sasuke smirked. "Well, you're out of luck, either way. She's not in love with me so even if we end up doing it, the power won't get passed onto me or your lucky heir."

Madara furrowed his brows as Sasuke crossed his arms with a smug expression on his face. He knew that their plan would probably delay if this were the case. Usually, the royal families would let their children marry whomever they pleased since that was really the only way to let the power pass down to the next generation. However with the arranged marriage, the 'contract' was less than likely unless she actually fell in love with Sasuke.

"She's in love with someone else." Sasuke added, glancing at Itachi, however; Itachi avoided his eyes, as if not knowing what Sasuke was referring to. Madara noticed the mere glance and smirked.

"So, the royal princess has fallen in love with the lowly guard?"

Itachi's eyes widened and the room filled with gasps and whispers. There was no way that Sakura would agree to have sex with Itachi after being married to Sasuke already.

"Damn, this is fucking complicating," Fugaku groaned.

Madara crossed his fingers over his lips once again and then put his hands on the table after thinking for a moment. "Itachi, you'll have to do it."

The whispers discontinued and all eyes fell on Madara. Sasuke and Itachi's faces were white with shock.

"That makes sense," Fugaku said, crossing his arms.

Sasuke stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "Father!"

"I don't think she'll let me," Itachi said. "Even if she says that, she remains loyal to her traditions and she won't do it with anyone other than Sasuke when the time is right."

"We don't have time to wait for her to fall in love with Sasuke. This isn't some fucking love story. By the time that happens, her powers might already exceed her limits and she'll be unstoppable. We won't be able to launch a full on attack then. We also don't have time to wait until the next Uchiha heir appears with our rare power. It's been generations since someone has shown it. We don't have any more time to waste. The Linshore people can wipe us out whenever they please when Sakura gets stronger. While she's still training that power, we need to strike first."

"Why can't we just live in peace?" Sasuke groaned quietly. "They're not bad people like you said. We're the villains here."

Madara furrowed his brows. "We've been at war for ages and you really think that Linshore isn't thinking about attacking us themselves? Who knows what they're going to do. For all you know, Sakura could be plotting to kill you right this moment." He then looked at Itachi. "You'll have to do it."

Sasuke looked at Itachi desperately, hoping that he would disagree with the idea and immediately regretting mentioning that Sakura was in love with someone else. Itachi looked at his uncle as everyone waited for his answer.

"...I'll do it."

"Are you fucking serious?" Sasuke asked.

Madara looked at Sasuke. "If you get in the way. It'll be the end of you."

Fugaku sighed. "Stop, Madara."

Madara scoffed and sneered at his brother. "You're just as cruel as I am, Fugaku. Lying to your country and telling them your first-born has died, only to hid him and send him off as a spy in Linshore. Quite the father, aren't you."

Fugaku glared at Madara who just smirked in amusement. Sasuke looked at Itachi who was expressionless. He hated that Itachi never had anything to say about what happened to him.

"Well, this meeting is over. We shall commence soon with our plans. Itachi, we're counting on you," Madara said.

Sasuke looked at Itachi who silently stood up and left the room. He then looked at everyone else in the room and bowed before quickly following after.

"Wait...Itachi!"

Itachi kept on walking, ignoring Sasuke's calls to him. Sasuke clicked his tongue and walked even faster.

"Brother!"

Itachi stopped in his steps and Sasuke's eyes widened, not thinking that he would stop walking after calling him that.

"...Don't call me that," Itachi muttered, still not turning around to look at him. He then kept on walking and Sasuke rendered speechless.

"Are you really going to do it?!"

"We haven't come this far to stop now, Sasuke." He then turned his head with a smirk. "If you wanna do something about it, do it now."

Sasuke clenched his fists, feeling useless. If he tried anything now, it would mean the end for both Sakura and himself and it would all be meaningless.

"That's what I thought," Itachi said, turning back around and heading to Sakura's room. "Don't disturb us. I'm going to make it quick."

"Are you serious..."

Itachi looked at him with a soft smile and left, leaving Sasuke dumbfounded.

Sakura, who was in her room, was sleeping soundly; unaware of what was about to come, that her hell was only just about to begin.

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**A/N: Sorry for the delay BUT! Here it is, here it is! I can't wait to show you guys the next chapter hehehehe :) Love you guys phoreal**


	7. Chapter 7 - Itachi's Betrayal

**A/N: **Hi my loves, how are you guys? I won't be able to update as much since I just got hired recently. I'll be updating every Friday at midnight from now on. Hope that's okay! Please keep supporting me and giving me ur luv 3

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"Why do you keep on staring at me..." Sakura asked Sasuke, who was staring intently at her from across her room.

She then glanced over at Itachi who was sitting on the opposite side from Sasuke. Itachi remained silent and didn't meet her eyes.

"What's going on?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Nothing," Sasuke said.

"Riiiiight..." Sakura rolled her eyes and got out of bed. "Didn't think I'd wake up to see two guys in my room now."

Itachi looked at Sasuke and glared at him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Itachi growled.

"Protecting her."

"That's what I'm here for."

Sasuke scoffed. "Doing a grand job of that aren't ya?"

"Hello?! I'm in the room, just in case you've forgotten," Sakura snapped.

Sasuke and Itachi looked at Sakura then at each other before heaving deep sighs.

There was a knock on the door and Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Come in," she said loudly.

The door opened and in came Naruto.

"Sakura!" he said happily. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Where have you been?" she asked him curiously.

"Nowhere!"

"With his girlfriend, I'm assuming," Sasuke said quietly.

Sakura's jaw dropped. "Girlfriend?!"

Naruto's face turned red in embarrassment and he grinned sheepishly. "Not really...just someone I'm seeing hehe."

"Might as well make her your girlfriend already," Sasuke grumbled.

"It's not like that, Sasuke!" Naruto said, getting annoyed.

"Well, not that it's any of my business. Why are you here?" she asked. She then looked at all there of them. How weird seeing them all here together in my room, she thought.

"Oh, Madara was asking for you and Itachi."

Itachi and Sasuke froze. Sakura and Naruto didn't notice their reaction and Sakura only groaned.

"What does that man want with me and Itachi?"

"No clue. Sounded serious. He wants you to eat breakfast with him in the dining hall."

"You can't." Sasuke said, standing up from the floor.

Itachi looked at Sasuke and shook his head. "Let us eat together."

"Are you fucking serious?"

"You've already ruined last night by barging in here and sleeping here. You're just making it worse."

Naruto looked at them and tilted his head in confusion. "Ruined last night?"

"It's nothing," Sasuke said quietly.

Sakura looked at all the men in her room and glared at them. "I'm going to change. So if you don't mind." She then pointed at the door.

"Sakura-sama..." Itachi said quietly. "You're going to eat with him?"

"Well, I can't ignore him. He's a relative now I guess. It must be important if he wants to have breakfast with me considering the fact that he despises me and my people."

After getting changed and getting ready, Sakura went on her way towards the dining hall with the three men still following after her.

"You know, you guys don't have to come with me." Sakura told them.

"I'll wait outside," Naruto said.

"I'm your husband, I should be there."

"Sakura-sama...I'll just stand by and watch."

Sakura looked at all of them and groaned, walking into the dining room. Madara was sitting at the end of the long table and he had one of the most mischievous grins she had ever seen. It was eerily uncomfortable and disturbing. Sasuke and Itachi followed behind her and Madara's expression changed into an angry glare.

Sasuke gulped and Itachi didn't say anything. Sakura sat down on one of the seats on the side. She looked at her food and then at Madara.

"Good morning, general."

"Your highness..." he said quietly. He then glanced at Itachi and crossed his fingers over his mouth. "Sleep well?"

"As a log."

Madara furrowed his brows and looked at the two men who were behind Sakura suspiciously. Itachi pointed at Sasuke and Sasuke raised his middle finger as Madara clicked his tongue under his breath.

"Well, thank you for joining me for breakfast," Madara said quietly. "I was hoping that we'd meet under different circumstances to talk about future plans...but it seems that that's not the case today."

Sakura raised a brow at him. "What? Future plans?"

"Never mind," Madara said. "You two should sit down." He raised a hand towards Sasuke and Itachi and motioned them to sit down. Itachi and Sasuke followed suit and did so. The atmosphere grew awkward and tense.

As they ate, Sakura found it extremely odd that Madara didn't talk much despite him being the one to invite her and Itachi. The whole time it seemed that Madara was upset about something.

"Sakura, if you don't mind. I'd like to speak to Sasuke alone," Madara said, finishing up his food and patting the corners of his mouth. Sasuke rolled his eyes and slouched in his seat.

Sakura responded by looking at Sasuke, concerned.

"There's no time to waste, it's an important matter," he said sternly.

Sakura sighed and looked at Itachi who looked oddly uncomfortable. "Um...Itachi? Let's go?"

"...Yeah."

As soon as the both of them left, Madara crossed his fingers over his mouth and rested his elbows on the table and looked at Sasuke angrily. "What the hell happened? Did you interfere?"

"I can't help it if I get a little jealous over someone else having sex with my wife."

"Sasuke."

"Plus, it can wait anyways, we're not in a rush or anything."

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke furrowed his brows and looked away as Madara groaned and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Sasuke. You're going to ruin everything we've worked for up until now. If you do any more than this and get in the way, I will ruin Sakura before Itachi can even get his hands on her."

Sasuke furrowed his brows and smirked. "Really uncle? You really think you're going to do that?"

"You want to test me?"

In that moment, Sasuke knew that he had to stop the conversation there. There was something off-putting about the way Madara was handling things. He was too absorbed in getting rid of Linshore. There was no way of knowing if there was something else he was planning up his sleeve. Either way, if he tried to escape with Sakura now, it'd be hard to find a way out. This palace was slowly becoming a prison.

"Sorry if I screwed up the plans for just one night, sheesh."

"Tonight will be the night Sasuke. I swear that if you get in the way again, it will be over for you _and_ her. The only reason why you're up and walking right now is because you're my nephew. There's no more time for screw ups."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and got up from his seat and walked towards the exit of the dining hall. "Got it, got it."

"You haven't actually fallen for her, have you?"

Sasuke thought for a moment and turned around to look at Madara. "Who'd love that crazy woman?"

Madara glared at Sasuke's back and muttered under his breath. "As the older son...I will take back what is rightfully mine."

As Sasuke exited the hall, he found Sakura waiting for him and she quickly ran up to him.

"Are you okay? Seemed like he was really pissed off about something..."

"It's nothing," Sasuke said, glancing over at Itachi. Naruto saw the mere glance but decided not to say anything. "Sakura...will you come with me for a moment?"

"I can't let you do that," Itachi said.

"It's just a conversation. Why do you always butt in into our marital affairs?"

Itachi glared at Sasuke. "Don't be stupid." To Sasuke, that wasn't just any old warning. He furrowed his brows and looked at him in a confused expression. Just whose side was Itachi really on? Last night just made him even more confused.

"_Are you serious..."_

_Itachi looked at him with a soft smile and left, leaving Sasuke dumbfounded._

_Sakura, who was in her room, was sleeping soundly; unaware of what was about to come, that her hell was only just beginning._

"_You won't do it," Sasuke told Itachi. Itachi stopped at the doorway and looked at his little brother with a smirk._

"_Oh yeah? What makes you think that?"_

"_Because I won't let you!" Sasuke snapped, walking into the room with him. He sat on a chair and Itachi followed inside hastily, grabbing Sasuke's shirt and pulling him towards him._

"_Do you know what you're doing, you fucking idiot?!" he asked quietly, trying not to wake Sakura up._

"_I'm not letting you touch her!" Sasuke whispered back._

"_If uncle finds out you're doing this, we're all dead meat."_

"_He needs us! He won't get rid of us just for screwing up this one night!"_

_Itachi clicked him tongue and pushed Sasuke away from his grip. He then shut the door and sat on the opposite side of the room, still glaring at Sasuke._

"_This is okay with you? Me staying here?" Sasuke asked, in a normal voice this time so Itachi could hear._

"_Shut up or you'll wake her up."_

Throughout the rest of the day, Sasuke unconsciously stuck himself onto Sakura so Itachi wouldn't get a second with her alone.

"I've never seen you act like this," Sakura told Sasuke who was walking beside her. Naruto, who was with them, stayed towards the back of the group and watched silently.

"Sorry if I want to get to know my wife a little better," Sasuke answered.

Sakura then glanced at Itachi who walked on the opposite side of her, looking completely and utterly annoyed.

"Itachi...are you alright?"

"Just _dandy_, Sakura-sama."

Sakura felt tense and rubbed her temples with a big sigh. Itachi never says dandy.

"Dinner was quite good, wasn't it?" Sasuke asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yes...it was."

Itachi finally had enough of the pointless conversations and clicked his tongue, grabbing onto Sakura's hand and making a run for it.

Sakura ran, almost tripping before yelling loudly. "Wha-?! Itachi?!"

"Wha-HEY!" Sasuke snapped, chasing after them.

Naruto who was behind then couldn't' take the weird situation anymore and stopped Sasuke from chasing after them.

"Stop, Sasuke."

"Naruto! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Care to explain why you've been acting so weird?"

Sasuke whipped his head towards Itachi and Sakura and they were long gone.

"Damn! I lost them."

Sasuke then heard a metallic sound and slowly turned his head as he felt a cold instrument against his neck. All he saw was Naruto holding up a gun against his skin.

"I'd use my sword, but using this one would alert everyone better."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Naruto...?"

"What are you planning, Sasuke?"

As Itachi and Sakura kept on running, she immediately put herself to a stop and pulled on Itachi's arm.

"Wait, dammit!"

Itachi panted quietly and turned his head to look at Sakura. "Sakura-sama. Let's go to your room, right now."

Sakura's face grew red and she nodded. When they arrived to her room, Itachi suddenly started unbuttoning his dress shirt.

"Whoa!" Sakura covered her eyes and she turned and walked towards her bed. "Look, Itachi. If you're pent up, go to a brothel...or something."

She felt his hands on her shoulders as he turned her around. Itachi's eyes widened as he saw her face turn bright red.

"Itachi, I'm going to fucking hit you if you do anything. If Sasuke finds out-"

"Who cares about him? It's not like you care about him. The one you care about...is me, right?"

Sakura's mouth opened in the slightest in shock as she tried to back away from him. "Itachi...please..."

"Sakura-sama..." Itachi said under his breath, leaning into her.

"Stop! I can't do this!" she snapped, pulling away. Itachi didn't think she'd reject him so strongly and as if taking advantage of his distraction, Sakura slapped a hand across his face. "How dare you! You know how the royal family of Linshore works. I'm not okay with this!"

Itachi, whose face was still facing the ground because of the slap, turned to look at her. Sakura almost felt her knees buckle at the sight. His eyes were red and there were black insignia on them. He reached his hands out towards her and she slowly stepped backwards, terrified.

"Your eyes..."

"I'm sorry, Sakura-sama...I'm glad you stuck to your Linshore word," he said quietly, reaching a hand out towards her.

Sakura was too caught up in the moment to react and she fell backwards onto her bed, not realizing that she had been walking backwards the whole time. "You're...you're an-?"

"I'm sorry," he said, he placed a hand on her head and looked into her eyes.

"What are you doing to me?!" Sakura said, trying to pull away, but she was already caught in his grip.

An expression of grief and pain swept across his face as he leaned into her face. At that moment, Sakura felt a kind warmth press against her lips and everything went pitch black.


	8. Chapter 8 - Haste

**A/N: Hai guys. Remember how I said I was going to update twice a week on M/F. Well, things have been pretty hectic lately so I'll only be able to update every Friday. I SO SORRY, MY LOVES. But if you're lucky, I might be updating during the week whenever I want to. Besides that, Fridays are my absolute updating days. Das'all! Keep the love like you guys always have and good luck to anyone who has exams coming up! Anyways, now on with the story.**

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"I'm flattered that you called me here, dear brother. Was not seeing me at dinner enough for you?"

Fugaku just sighed in response and Madara sat down in front of Fugaku's work desk and slouched in his seat. "So? What do you want?"

Fugaku tapped on the desk and then crossed his fingers together. "No need to sound all spiteful."

"I'm a little worried about what you want to talk to me about."

"...I'm thinking about the plan, Madara."

Madara started furrowing his brows, feeling his suspicions growing higher.

"Are you getting backing out on me?"

"I've been thinking hard...I think that we should try and maintain the peace. I don't see anything wrong with doing that."

Madara scoffed and stood up and started pacing around the room.

"Are you serious? We've been planning this for 20 years, Fugaku. Twenty! You're just going to throw that all away?!"

Fugaku opened his hands and shrugged. "I've been thinking about what Sasuke said. Why _can't_ we live in peace? Did you really think that 20 years from the day we've planned this, that things weren't going to change for the better?"

Madara shook his head. "It's because of that naïve mindset of yours that's made Sasuke so soft."

"It's not naïve. You just have your own personal vendetta against Linshore."

Madara stopped pacing and pointed at Fugaku furiously. "Excuse me?"

"You're angry at them because Izuna died during one of the wars."

"Don't you dare bring my brother into this! You've lost ones too!"

Fugaku rubbed his temples and heaved a deep sigh. "Yes, I know, but I've thought about the future. And you do have a personal vendetta against them, that's why you're unable to think objectively. Think of the future like me, Madara."

"You're so frustrating! You never know when _they're _going to attack _us_! They need to be dealt with."

"You've met Sakura. You've heard the stories about that child, have you not?"

"She is the heir of the Linshore family. The family that has fought ours for many years and now you want to be best buds? I'm still angry at you for deciding to agree to that peace agreement when I was gone."

"I didn't see the need for your approval."

Madara paced back and forth again. "If you do this, then sending Itachi away will have been for nothing! Those twelve years without your son. You really think that doing this will make that worth it?"

Fugaku remained silent for a moment and then shook his head. "That was your decision to make, Madara! Not mine! I shouldn't have listened to you. Ever since I was young, I respected you and always seeked for your approval. You weren't my real brother then but when father adopted you after uncle died during one of the wars, you and Izuna became like real brothers to me. I looked up to you as an older brother. I really wanted to be like you...but after giving this much thought, I really don't want to go through with this plan."

"We were like your brothers, you say? Even after Izuna's death, you're still fine with just letting things be as they as they are now?!"

"Izuna's death was devastating, yes. But times have changed. I cannot and will not let you harm that girl."

"You're going to ruin everything, Fugaku."

"That girl could be the solution to everything. You saw Sasuke during your welcome back luncheon. He was different."

Madara rolled his eyes.

"I've never seen him like that before, not to mention in the mere presence of someone from Linshore, the princess herself. And have you heard of that time when she tried to heal that man who tried to kill her? That child could be the change our nations have been looking for. The wars can end and many lives will be saved."

'You really the think the other commanders who have been in on this plan will be fine with you doing this? I have more power over the military than you do."

"Are you testing me, the king This is your last chance, Madara. Take the offer or leave it."

Madara didn't answer and he stood up angrily. "Do whatever you want."

Before Madara left the room, Fugaku stood and planted his hands on the table. The sound of the chair sliding backwards urged Madara to stop walking.

"You can't touch Sakura. I've placed guards outside of her room not too long ago."

Madara scoffed and shrugged. "Good for you then." He then walked out of the room and looked at Obito, his prodigy, who was waiting outside. "Seems like we have to hasten our plans."

Obito bowed and the both of them left.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke were in the middle of a hallway. Naruto had just stopped Sasuke from chasing Sakura and Itachi, who had been acting strangely the whole day.

"Naruto! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Care to explain why you've been acting so weird?"

Sasuke whipped his head towards Itachi and Sakura and they were long gone.

"Damn! I lost them."

Sasuke then heard the sound of someone cocking a gun and he slowly turned his head after he felt a cold instrument against his neck. What he saw was Naruto holding up a gun.

"I'd use my sword, but using this one would alert everyone better."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Naruto...?"

"What are you planning, Sasuke? You've been weird all day and during dinner."

"What?"

"Are you plotting against the king?" Naruto furrowed his brows even further and Sasuke grabbed the muzzle of the gun and pushed it into his skin.

"What are you going to do then?"

Naruto sighed to himself. "Let go."

Sasuke slowly let go, but the muzzle of the gun left a soft circle mark on his neck and Naruto put his gun away.

Sasuke smiled lightly. "Seems like we still trust each other with our lives huh."

"You don't usually do things without a reason. I've known you long enough to know that. It has something to do with Madara doesn't it?"

Sasuke looked around and whispered quietly. "Keep your voice down."

Naruto nodded and Sasuke sighed, rubbing his jaw questioningly as if wondering if he should involve Naruto. He then chuckled to himself. All hope wasn't lost yet. There was still Naruto. Naruto was the only person he could trust at this point.

"We need to go to Sakura's room."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at him in confusion. "Ha?"

Before stopping to respond, Sasuke started walking towards the direction of Sakura's room and Naruto hastily followed.

"You like Sakura, don't you?" Sasuke asked.

"Well...I have Hinata..."

"That's not what I meant. You like her, as a person, right?"

"Despite coming from the Linshore family...yeah I guess."

"Your loyalty remains to me still, right?"

Naruto sighed, starting to feel uncertain. "You know that it is my duty."

Sasuke nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder as they walked. "I, Sasuke Uchiha, release you from the Ferravea royal family as a free man. You are no longer responsible for my well-being."

Naruto furrowed his brows and clicked his tongue. "You really think I'm going to walk away with just that? You have a lot of explaining to do once we're finished with whatever shenanigans you're up to. I didn't spend 14 years with you just to get thrown out without any explanations."

Sasuke smirked. "Thanks...damn, 14 is a long time."

"Year being 20 now doesn't feel so great does it."

"Not at all."

With that, the both of them ran to Sakura's room, much to some of the patrolling guards' confusion. However, when they got there, there were three guards posted outside of her room already.

"The hell is going on here..." Naruto muttered.

Sasuke's heart raced into a panic as he assumed the worst and walked over to the guards.

"What's going on over here? Did something happen?"

"Oh, your highness..."

The guards looked at each other. "We're surprised you don't know."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "Don't know what?"

"Well, your father asked us to put your wife under protection at the moment. Only the royal family, that is you and your parents, are allowed inside."

"And Itachi?'

"He's allowed, of course."

Sasuke rubbed his temples. "So, where is he? Itachi?"

"He's inside."

One of the guards sighed heavily. "The order was so random. I'm really confused as to why he's asking us to do this...Ah! Not that I'm questions him.""

Sasuke bit his lip lightly. "Yeah, I'm also confused. Let me enter." He then looked at an annoyed Naruto apologetically. "Sorry, man. Can you wait out here?"

"Fine."

The guards opened the doors for Sasuke and in he went. He sighed quietly as he saw Sakura sitting on the edge of the bed. Itachi was on the other side of the room in a chair. Both of them looked greatly troubled.

"I heard what happened," Sasuke said, looking at Itachi. He then glanced at Sakura. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...just great."

Sasuke furrowed his brows and looked at Itachi. "What's going on?" He anticipated a much stronger reaction from Sakura but he was even more confused. "You didn't do it?"

Itachi looked at Sasuke and sighed heavily. "No."

Sakura groaned and then grabbed the sides of her head painfully. "Shit, I dozed off for a couple of minutes...My head hurts like hell..."

"Remember anything?" Sasuke asked her.

"I lost consciousness for a second...but I don't remember anything..." She then touched her lips lightly and looked at Itachi. His eyes darted away from hers and he gulped quietly.

Sasuke noticed their eye contact and glared at Itachi and walked over to him angrily, pulling his shirt towards him. "What did you do?"

"What I had to." Itachi said, pushing Sasuke off. He then looked at Sakura.

Sakura met his eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, I don't know what the hell you did, but what are you keeping from me, Itachi? Ever since we first arrived here. You've been acting strange, disappearing, and running your so-called errands. What is going on with you?" She bit the inside of her cheek lightly. "What are you not telling me? I've known you since I was 8, Itachi. That's 12 freaking years. I can tell when you're keeping something from me."

Itachi rolled his eyes and looked away from her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sakura sighed and walked over to him, grabbing his shirt. "Why are you doing this? I remember you saying sorry to me earlier...What did you mean by that? Why is it that that's all I can remember?"

"Sakura-sama," he said quietly, grabbing her wrists tightly. He then smiled lightly at her. "I'm sorry."

Sasuke felt something stir inside of him. Whether it was jealousy or anger, he just didn't like the way the two were dealing with each other.

Sakura furrowed her brows and looked at him with a painful expression.

There was a knock on the door and Sasuke saw his parents walk into the room. It felt like one big family meeting but Sakura was the only one unaware of Itachi being part of the Ferravea family at all.

"Your majesties!" Sakura said, letting go of Itachi's shirt and bowing before the two of them.

"Please, don't." Mikoto smiled, placing a hand on Sakura's shoulder, motioning her to raise her head. "Please don't bow down to us."

Mikoto and Fugaku bowed their heads and Sakura's eyes widened. "I am very very confused right now."

Sasuke furrowed his brows. With the way things were going, it was strange that his parents suddenly came to visit Sakura, that his father put the surveillance on her, and not to mention the strange matter with Itachi. It looked like something big was about to go down.

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked.

Fugaku smiled at her. "Sakura, since your time here, not once have you shown any hostility towards us, your enemy."

Sakura shrugged. "I like to judge people for myself. Besides...the war was between our parents, it's no interest of mine. I'm jut worried about my people."

"I see..." Mikoto said. She then looked at Sasuke. "You're a lucky one."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and Fugaku took in a deep breath.

"We have come here...to let you go," Fugaku said sternly.


	9. Chapter 9 - Out

"We have come here to let you go," Fugaku said sternly.

Sakura scoffed and chuckled a little. "Let me go?" She then stopped smiling as she realized that now wasn't the time to joke around.

Mikoto took Sakura's hands into hers. "We...have been quite some unfair adults, haven't we?" She then looked at Itachi sadly before looking at her hands that were mingled with Sakura's. "You need to leave this place. You, Sasuke, and that boy Naruto."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What?" He then looked at Fugaku. "Father? We're not ready, we don't have any clothes, any money—"

"I'm sure...that your uncle is plotting against me."

"Madara?"

"Itachi has been keeping tabs on him for me."

Sasuke then looked at Itachi. "Itachi?"

Itachi closed his eyes and looked at Sakura, who was only ignorant to the family matter.

"Why is this happening all of a sudden?" he muttered.

"To be honest, Madara was my advisor before all this. I never mentioned the peace treaty and the marriage treatment to him. Honestly, I tried to rush it because I wanted to make sure that all the arrangements were finished before he came home."

Mikoto then let go of Sakura's hand and wrapped her around Fugaku's tightly. "Somehow...he found out and came back here. Now he's plotting against us."

Sakura furrowed her brows angrily. "But you're brothers! How can he betray you like that?"

Sasuke momentarily glanced at Itachi, having the feeling that Itachi knew that this was going to happen.

"He's my adoptive brother, actually. When I was 10, my uncle died in the war and my aunt...well...she ran off somewhere and left her sons alone. Those sons were Madara and his _real_ brother, Izuna, but he had also died in a war."

Sakura's mouth slowly but slightly opened in astonishment. "That explains a lot things then..."

"Yes. He's lost three very important people to him and he blames your people."

Sasuke clicked his tongue. "To blame this generation and to let us suffer for his sorrows is not the way to go."

Mikoto sighed. "It's what's made him so dangerous up to this point. The military greatly respect him."

"Why a man like Madara?"

"He's a great general and he's saved the lives of many of his soldiers."

Fugaku sighed heavily and grabbed Sasuke's shoulders.

"We don't have much time."

"I'm not leaving you two!"

"You have to, son, or you can goodbye to a peaceful future between our countries."

Sasuke bit his lip and shook his head. "That's not fair, dad. I don't want to leave you and mother behind."

"I'll be staying behind," Itachi said firmly.

Mikoto nodded. "If he stays, Madara won't become suspicious."

Sakura raised a suspicious brow. "What's Itachi got to do with all this?"

"Not right now, Sakura-sama," Itachi said. "You all need to leave."

Fugaku crossed his arms. "Go to the stables quickly. That's your only ticket out of here."

"Naruto's coming along too right?" Sasuke asked.

"Naruto huh. I can tell that he's someone who'd risk his life for you."

Sasuke nodded and then walked over to the door, opening it slowly only to find Naruto waiting outside. "Come in."

Naruto put on a confused expression. "Am I allowed?"

Sasuke nodded and Naruto grinned, but then glanced behind himself.

"You know, I saw a lot of solders running all over the place earlier. Looks serious, but I haven't gotten any orders yet."

Sasuke's eyes widened and he pulled Naruto inside and looked at everyone. "Madara's making his move."

Fugaku and Mikoto looked at each other then at Sasuke.

"It's time. You all need to go."

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose tightly.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Naruto asked.

"Seems that there's no time to explain," Sakura said, looking at Sasuke's parents who put on a grateful expression for avoiding the topic. She then looked at Itachi. "I don't know what you were doing, but it looks like you did good things."

"Sakura-sama..."

"No need for the honorifics." She then glanced at Sasuke's clothes and then looked down at her own. "It's going to be tough getting outta here. Sasuke and I don't exactly look like normal citizens...I'm going to change." Sakura went inside her walk-in closet and changed immediately.

Naruto groaned. "So no one's going to tell me what's going on..._AGAIN_."

Sasuke looked down at his clothes. "Well, it's not like I have any clothes at my disposal right now."

Itachi looked at Sasuke then walked over to his dresser. "Sasuke, I have some that might fit you."

Itachi rummaged through his own clothes from the dresser next to Sakura's and gave some to Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at the clothes then at his parents. "I can't believe this is happening right now."

"It's our fault," Fugaku sighed. Sasuke kept his gaze on him before moving away and changing.

"How are we going to get past those guards though?" Sakura asked, as she finished dressing herself.

"You won't," Itachi said. He opened the window and then grabbed a thick long rope from under the bed. Thick enough to hold a person's weight up.

Sakura raised her eyebrows in shock. "How long has that been there?"

Itachi didn't answer and finished anchoring the rope as Sasuke scoffed. "You know this was going to happen, didn't you?"

Once again, Itachi ignored all the questions. "One at a time. Hurry. You go first, Naruto. Hit the stables and get two horses. If you get one for all three of you, it'll take too much time. Take the back way. Make sure no one sees you. Madara won't be expecting that you'll be going this way, but just be safe."

Naruto nodded and propped himself around the rope as Itachi put on a glove to prevent rope burns on his dominant hand.

Sakura looked at Itachi as he helped Naruto down the rope.

"You're really staying behind, Itachi?"

Itachi sighed. "Yes, I'm staying behind. You're up, Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded and then glanced at Sakura. "You're following right after me, okay? Don't do anything stupid."

"Mm."

Sasuke looked at his parents and his gut started twisting into uncomfortable knots. "When will I see you again?"

"Come on," Itachi said, quickly propping Sasuke on the rope. "No time for small talk."

Sasuke sighed quietly to himself and Mikoto went over to him, kissing him on his forehead. "Be safe."

Sasuke gulped, nodding obediently. He then looked at his father as he sat on the edge of the window. Fugaku nodded to him in assurance. "Goodbye, son."

Sasuke furrowed his brows. "Goodbye?" Itachi quickly pushed Sasuke gently off the edge of the window and Sakura's eyes widened in shock.

"Itachi, be careful!" She looked over the window and watched as Sasuke slid down the rope carefully with an annoyed expression.

"You're up," Itachi told her. She nodded and glanced at Mikoto and Fugaku.

Mikoto reached into the pocket of her dress and handed Sakura a heavy purse. "There's some gold in there, just in case."

"Thank you," Sakura said, staring at the pouch. "I wish...that I had gotten to know you better."

They both smiled at her. "Take good care of Sasuke for us."

Sakura huffed slightly. "Will do." Itachi then went over to her and faced her as he started propping the rope around her. She kept his eyes on him as he looked up at her when finished.

"Ready, your highness?"

"If you promise me that you'll see me again."

Itachi chuckled to himself. "Take good care of Sasuke like they said. When you get down, make sure you pull the rest of this rope along. They can't know that you escaped through the window."

She stared deeply into his eyes. "I don't think I've told you this yet but I've told Sasuke...you have the same eyes."

Itachi didn't answer and Sakura gulped, quickly hugging Itachi. "I better see you again."

Itachi smiled and she quickly jumped out. Naruto already brought the two horses and was waiting with Sasuke at the bottom.

Naruto mounted his horse, ready to go. Sasuke was waiting beside the other horse for Sakura.

"How are we going to get past the entrance gates?" Sakura asked, landing her feet on the ground. She then tugged on the rope until Itachi loosened the rope from the foot of her bed. At that, the rope came falling down. Sakura threw the rope in one of the bushes and concealed it.

Naruto held onto the reins and cleared his throat. "Weeeell, the entrance gate isn't the only way in and out of the palace grounds. There's another exit actually, makes it easier for the king and queen to go in and out of the palace as they please without anyone noticing. No one knows it but the royal family and handpicked security detail. Once I lead us out of here, you're leading the way to Linshore, Sakura" Naruto said. He then looked at Sasuke and Sakura up and down. "At least you two look normal. It won't look too suspicious."

Sakura glanced at Sasuke. "Sasuke?"

He flinched out of his daze. "What?"

"You okay?"

Sasuke nodded.

"I'll drive the horse."

Sasuke scoffed, "Seriously?"

"You're not in the right state of mind right now."

"I'd rather get my own horse."

Naruto sighed. "That would attract too much attention. We're lucky that this side of the palace has trees to camouflage us but once we keep going further out, we'll be out in the open meaning once we're out there, there'll be no going back. Once we're out of the palace grounds, we're on our own."

Sasuke nodded and Sakura helped herself onto the saddle of the horse as Sasuke sighed in annoyance.

Sakura looked down at him. "You coming?"

He heaved another deep sigh and mounting on the horse, sitting behind her.

"This is going to be hard," he said quietly.

"Yeah, but it'll make do for now. We'll try to find another horse later on," Naruto said.

Sakura looked at the mane of the horse and brushed through it. "This is going to be one tough ride."

In Sakura's old room, Mikoto and Fugaku sighed in relief. "Thank you, Itachi," Mikoto said. "You've been so kind to us even after everything..."

Itachi slid his hands down his face and glanced at the windowsill. He then looked at his parents sadly.

"Father...I don't...I can't..."

Fugaku grabbed the sides of Itachi's head, surprising him, and placed his forehead against his. "You have to do it or it'll be the three of us going down. You need to stay alive."

Mikoto placed a hand on Itachi's cheek. "You are such a kind son. Thank you for protecting Sasuke. I'm proud to have been your mother."

Itachi placed a hand over hers and she backed up and dropped to her knees. Fugaku followed and did the same.

All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door.

"Princess Sakura. Princess Sakura. Please open the door."

"I can't...this is too cruel..." Itachi said quietly.

The pounding on the door got even louder.

"You don't have to look, son." Fugaku muttered.

Itachi walked behind the both of them. His eyes slowly filled with tears as he pulled his gun out slowly.

"I'm so sorry..."

"Thank you," Fugaku said. "This best be worth it. We'll be watching from above."

Mikoto nodded before closing her eyes. "At least this death will be a quick and painless one. We love you, son."

On the grounds, Sakura and the rest of the group already started galloping away on the side of the palace.

_BANG! BANG!_

The three of them gasped at the slightly muffled noise they turned their heads towards the palace.

"Oh my God..." Sakura muttered.

Sasuke raised his eyes and he kept his eyes behind him. "What the hell was that?"

Naruto gulped and looked at Sakura who also looked at him. It was time to book it out of there. "We have to go."

Sasuke started shaking his head, his face turned white. "No no no, what the hell was that?"

Sakura held onto the reins tightly and lightly kicked the sides of the horse. "Come on!"

Naruto followed suit and the both of them raced off on their horses.

"No! What are you doing?!" Sasuke snapped. "Stop moving or else I'm going to jump off!"

Sakura shouted at the top of her lungs, trying to sound louder than the pounding hooves against the ground. "If you jump off, you're going to end up wobbling your way back to palace. Follow your parents' orders. We are not stopping!"

Sasuke clicked his tongue and instinctively buried his face into Sakura's back, lightly tightening his grip around her waist. "Fuck!"

Sakura then felt dampness on her upper back and gripped onto the reins even tighter as anguish swept across their faces.


	10. Chapter 10 - Bedrolls

Two shots rang out across the palace. The guards outside looked at each other in a panic as they tried to break the door down one more time.

"What was that?!" asked Madara, running towards the commotion and accompanied by Obito. He saw the expressions on the guard's faces as they tried to push through and he looked ahead in confusion. Some of the maids who were around also looked just as panicked.

"This is very strange," Obito said. "You think Itachi killed her?"

Madara clicked his tongue. "That wasn't part of the plan...and I don't think he'd do something like that."

Other major commanders and officials also arrived at the scene. Madara slid his hands down his face in frustration as he saw them. Despite his greatly respected reputation around the military, some of them were against his point of view and took sides with the king. Whatever was going to be behind this door would be a pain in the ass to explain.

When the door finally broke down, the guards rushed in but stopped in their tracks in shock. They saw their ruler and his wife face down on the floor, lifeless, with blood pooled around their upper bodies with gunshots evident on the back of the heads. Madara covered his mouth with his hand and then it slid down onto his hip.

"Damn!" he said angrily. He then looked around and noticed that Sakura was nowhere in sight. "Princess Sakura is gone. Find her and bring her to me alive. We need to know what happened here!"

The guards nodded in unison and they dispersed.

"Oh no...King Fugaku...Lady Mikoto," said one of the officials, looking at the bodies with great sadness.

"Please, give me some time to look over my brother's body," Madara said.

"We understand," said a commander, leaving.

He looked at the rest of the officials and commanders as they slowly started trickling away. Some of the men who were there that were a part of his coup, looked just as panicked and confused but Madara couldn't risk talking about the plan with everyone else around.

Madara kneeled over their bodies and Obito closed the door before walking over to Madara. "This makes things a lot easier for us, doesn't it?"

Madara angrily stomped his hands onto the floor. "No! This doesn't! My only voice for the people is gone. The people of Ferravea favor Fugaku over me. I know many of them are against my military ways and have taken a liking to that damn princess who was my only leverage against Linshore and now even she is gone."

Obito watched as Madara stood up and looked over at the bodies again. He then glanced at the open window.

"She must have escaped through there. The guards won't find her in the palace. Ugh, Obito, cover the bodies." He then paused and looked around the room. "Itachi. Where is Itachi?"

Obito shrugged. "He was supposed to be here with Princess Sakura wasn't he? Maybe he escaped as well."

Madara ran a hand through his hair. "Damn it, something must have happened."

"Nothing happened."

Madara and Obito followed the voice and found Itachi at the doorway.

"You," Madara growled, walking up to him in a threatening manner. "What the hell happened here, huh?! You were supposed to be in here!"

"I know. I didn't make it in time because my father wanted to see me. I went to his office but he was gone. I think that he was trying to help Sakura escape."

Madara crossed his arms. "Damn it. That guy was having a change of heart at the last minute and actually bothered to ask you to meet him. Didn't think he was that stubborn!"

Itachi glanced at the covered bodies of his parents and looked away, trying to hide the painful expression on his face.

Obito looked at the bodies then at Madara. "What if you pin their deaths on Sakura? It's perfect. You could assess that she shot them and escaped."

"That won't ever work. The king and queen spoke highly of her and so do our people. Even I know princess Sakura doesn't have the ability to kill in cold blood. We can't pin this on her. We have to come up with a completely different strategy now. If worse comes to worse, they might pin the deaths on me since I have most to gain from their deaths...but fuck, we need to hurry it up. I need to think."

He started pacing around the room. With the king and queen, the next heir would be Sasuke.

"We have to find Sasuke," Madara said. "Go to my quarters, Itachi. Keep yourself hidden. It'd be too suspicious if they find out that the princess's guard is still here. I'll let you know what the next step is."

Itachi nodded and hurried away as Madara waited for news on Sasuke.

Two hours have gone by and still no sight of Sasuke, Sakura, or Naruto. A brief meeting was proposed to discuss what had just happened. However, a verbal war rung out between those loyal to the king and those loyal to Madara.

"You can't blame Madara for this! For all you know, princess Sakura could have done it!"

"This is all too coincidental! He returns and then the king and his wife are dead not long after."

"But King Fugaku and General Madara were like brothers!"

"Ha! So you say. I say Madara ordered a hit on the king and his wife and then targeted prince Sasuke because he was next in line to the throne. It explains why he's also gone missing!"

"That's ridiculous! Where's your proof?!"

"Where's your proof that princess Sakura did it then?!"

Madara, enraged at the accusations and the yelling, stood up abruptly, making the room fall silent.

"Say all you want. Fact of the matter is, the king is dead and so is the queen. We must mourn them properly and then proceed with the search of the prince, his wife, and their bodyguards."

He then looked around the table as some of them shot glares at him.

"Now, some of you may hold something against me but it doesn't change the fact that I indeed next in line to the throne after Sasuke being Fugaku's adoptive brother. You can voice your protests against it to me later, but what needs to be done needs to be done right now. This meeting is now dismissed."

Murmurs and uneasiness filled the room as everyone left the room, leaving Madara and Obito behind. Madara slumped back into the chair.

"What shall be our next course of action?" Obito asked.

"We need a meeting with the coup. Contact them. We need to start plan B."

With these events, there was a great delay in Madara's plans. A grand funeral had to be held, the deaths of the king and the queen had to be investigated, and the search for Sasuke and his group was yet to begin."

With a couple hours head start, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto set up camp for the night. The three were silent for a good while and no one had spoken since they left the palace and after hearing the sounds of the gunshots. Around the firepit, Naruto made, he lazily poked around the kindle and occasionally glanced at Sasuke and Sakura who were both sitting together on the other side of the pit.

Finally breaking the silence, Sakura looked at Sasuke. "Sasuke...listen...about earlier"

"Not now, Sakura. Please."

"...If you want to talk...I just wanted you to know that I'm here. I'm still your wife."

Sasuke looked at her and rubbed his forehead before letting out a scoff. "Don't be serious. That peace arrangement is as good as gone."

Sakura furrowed her brows at him. "Dude, you don't know that yet."

Sasuke stood up, frustrated. "Isn't it obvious though?" He ran a hand through his hair. "I felt it, Sakura. It was like...this feeling...I had. Like a part of me had been ripped away."

Sakura bit her lip as he continued pacing back and forth. "Sasuke...I'm sorry-"

"You should have stopped when we were back there! We all know those shots came from your room and mind you, _two _gunshots."

"If I had stopped, you would've done something stupid and everything your parents did for us would have been for nothing!"

"You know, for all we know, Itachi could have been the one who fired those shots. He was suspicious from the beginning!"

"You don't know that!"

"How are you still defending him at a time like this?!"

"I've known him since I was eight, Sasuke! I trust him with my life and it looked like your parents did too! I don't know why and it doesn't make sense to me yet, but he's a good man. Your parents knew that too."

Sasuke shook his head. "That's ironic. You don't know a damn thing."

"Then what do you know? Why has he been acting so strange?"

Sasuke stopped pacing and looked at her. "Seriously, what is it with you and him?"

Sakura looked at the ground. "It's not what you think. He's just someone I really respect and owe a great debt to. He's saved my ass on multiple occasions.

"Right," Sasuke scoffed.

"Talking about this is besides the point! What do you know about him? Is there something I don't know?"

"I'll tell you when the time is right. I don't think you're ready to find out."

Sakura groaned. "I can take a few hits."

"I just don't want to talk about it right now."

"...Whatever, I'll get it out of you someday."

"...I think you're denying yourself," he said quietly.

"What?"

"About Itachi."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Look. I'm serious. There's nothing there anymore. He's just someone I really care about and I owe him a lot...I'll admit, I may have liked him at some point, but it's not like that anymore."

Sasuke looked at the ground after she admitted her old feelings for Itachi. "I see."

She looked at him as he sat back down, burying his hands in his hair. Throughout all the madness, Sasuke had lost the energy and the will to do anything.

Naruto, who felt the tension from the other side yelled at them. "You two should rest. We'll head out in the morning. I only managed to get one bedroll because I couldn't find other ones. It'll only be a matter of time before they realize we aren't in the palace. They'll come looking for us."

Sakura looked at the defeated Sasuke and got up, walking over to her horse and taking the bedroll that was strapped to its side. She then went to Sasuke, handing the bedroll over to him. Sasuke just looked at it then at her.

"You should get some sleep...you've been through a lot...and I'm sorry I can't really do much for you. this is all I can do for now, I guess."

He looked at the bedroll again and then raised his hands towards it, only to hold her arm. She looked at him, confused, and he pulled her towards him, catching her by surprise causing her to let go of the bedroll. He hugged her tightly and she sighed to herself, returning the painful hug.

"Yo. What's going on?"

"Fuck. Here you go again. Getting all unnecessarily nice on me."

"Like I said, you've been through a lot."

After Sakura had said that, images of Itachi and his parents flooded into his brain. "...Yeah. I'm really fed up and tired."

"That's why you need to sleep," she chuckled, pulling away from him.

"Thank goodness I have a caring wife, huh?"

Sakura smirked. "I thought you said the agreement was done for?"

"We don't know that yet."

She smiled and stood up, picking up the bedroll and laying it out for Sasuke. He watched her as finished and back down onto the ground.

"All yours," she said proudly.

"I don't think I can sleep at a time like this."

"You need it. You'll need all of your energy tomorrow."

"You need sleep too, don't you? And...a woman shouldn't be sleeping on the dirty ground," he said.

"There's just one bedroll."

"Just sleep next to me."

Sakura scoffed with a light chuckle. "Don't push it."

"I'm serious. We can both fit. You need to drive the horse anyways, don't you? You need proper rest."

She rolled her eyes. "We can switch this time. You drive."

He crawled over to the bedroll and laid on it. He then patted the side next to him. "Just for tonight? I don't think I'll be able to sleep properly."

Sakura sighed. She didn't know what to do with him but he's already been though enough. She didn't want to make him feel any worse. Quietly, she crawled onto the bedroll next to him.

"Just for tonight. I owe you some...you've saved my ass a couple of times before."

Sasuke nodded, laid on his side and rested his head on his arm as she lied next to him, feeling slightly awkward.

"This is weird..." he said quietly.

"You wanted this," she said in an annoying tone, flicking his forehead.

"Well this is what married couples do."

"Yeah, couples who love each other."

"So, you don't love me?" Sasuke teased.

"I don't even like you," she grumbled quietly.

Sasuke chuckled and closed his eyes. She watched as his breaths slowed to a relaxed pace. His facial features and just everything about his physical traits reminded her of Itachi yet again. Whatever that feeling was, she knew it was related to everything going on right now.

"You know, I can feel you staring at me," Sasuke said huskily, eyes still closed.

"Well, you must be dreaming."

"You know...thanks, Sakura. I probably would have regretted going back there if you hadn't kept going the way you did earlier."

"Yeah...just sleep."

He nodded and turned his back to her. "Might make you more comfortable if I slept this way."

Sakura smiled to herself and also turned her back towards him. "Thanks."

"...Yeah. Goodnight."

"...Goodnight. I'm sorry about today and for arguing with you earlier." Sakura grabbed her chest as her heartbeat pounded heavily against her chest with Sasuke next to him. Maybe it was because she hasn't slept next to a guy like this before.

"Yeah...me too." Sasuke then sighed to himself and glanced behind him before looking back ahead and at the ground, thinking if he could _actually_ sleep with her so close to him.

* * *

**Hullo. Something a little lightening after the dark chapters recently, yeah? Huhu, I suck at chapter names (Lol, bedroll? What kinda chapter name...pls forgive me wahah)**

** RIP Sasuke's parents. **

**A****LSO, HAVE YOU GUYS READ NARUTO GAIDEN YET? The next chapter should be hella crazy. Anyways, have a good weekend guys! **


	11. Chapter 11 - Hallucinations

"Damn. Honestly, can you two stop bickering? You've been going at it for hours now."

"Don't give me that, Naruto! I just want an apology for him kicking me off last night! That's all!"

"Ugh, shut up you damn princess."

"Wha-! You were the one who asked me to sleep next to you!"

"Well...your damn forehead took up most of the room anyway."

"Is that supposed to be funny?!"

Sakura groaned in deep annoyance and gripped onto the reins of her horse tightly. Over 15 hours have passed since they woke up and it was all arguing between her and Sasuke the whole way through. The main reason was because she woke up to Sasuke kicking her leg and then using his entire body weight to push her off of the bedroll and onto the dirt. After he woke up, he didn't ever bother to apologize.

"It was getting uncomfortable, I guess. I felt super hot and needed some room so..."

"Kicking me and then pushing me off is not the way to go, dumbass! You didn't even apologize."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he heard the two argue in front of him. "You know, you both really like to grab at each other's throats at the most random times. Just apologize, Sasuke."

Sasuke scoffed. "Shoot me in the face."

Sakura's jaw dropped and she turned to look at him. "You arrogant son of a –"

"Eyes on the road, princess."

Sakura furrowed her brows and swiftly turned her head to face the road before abruptly pulling on the reins, making the horse stop.

"WHOA!"

In that instance, Sasuke didn't have enough time to grab onto Sakura's waist and he flew backwards, his bottom landing hardly on the grass.

"Daaaaamn! That fucking hurt, you crazy woman!" Sasuke yelled, rubbing his back.

"Either you're sitting with Naruto or you're walking to Linshore."

"Princess Sakura, someone must accompany you. You're a woman."

"Don't get sexist on me! If you're so worried, take his place and ride with me then."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Wait, princess Sakura. Be reasonable. I need to stay behind to stand watch."

"Well, you can do the same thing riding with me, can't you? What's the difference?"

Sakura looked down on the humiliated and angry Sasuke. "That'll teach you to disrespect me, dear husband."

Sasuke rolled his eyes as Naruto hesitantly stopped his horse next to Sasuke. "Yo, you alright?"

Sasuke clicked his tongue in response. "I'm fine, man. It's whatever."

Naruto dismounted his horse and helped Sasuke up from the ground. Sakura glared at Sasuke menacingly and turned away, avoiding his eyes. Naruto looked at the both of them and shook his head.

"I hope you two fix your attitudes by the time we get to Linshore. It won't be long before then."

"You hear that, Sasuke? An apology would be nice in the next couple hours or so!"

Naruto groaned quietly and mounted Sakura's horse, placing himself behind her. He looked at Sasuke, who also mounted the other horse angrily. He then looked at Sakura's back and sighed to himself, feeling slightly awkward and distressed.

"Alright, we're moving," Sakura said, lightly tapping the sides of the horse and urging it to move forward. "Ya."

Sasuke followed behind her and he remained silent. He did feel bad about kicking Sakura off the bed, but he just didn't feel like apologizing for some reason. He looked behind him towards the forest that they had just passed. They were hours away from Ferravea. He could go back right now if he wanted to just to check on his parents. He gripped the reins of the horse tightly, contemplating.

As if by intuition, Sakura spoke up loudly. "Don't even think about it. We'll chase you down and drag you back if we have to. Right, Naruto?"

Naruto raised a brow and then turned to look at Sasuke who had an expression of that of a child who looked like he was just caught before doing something bad. Naruto's eyes widened and he turned back to look at Sakura's back.

"Right..." Sasuke responded quietly.

"Mhm. So don't try anything."

Sasuke scoffed and his grip loosened on the reins. "Whatever you say. It's not like I was going to do anything."

"Don't lie to me."

Sasuke smiled to himself. "You're quite the perceptive one, huh?"

"I guess I am."

"...sorry."

The corner of Sakura's lips pulled upwards slightly. "What was that?"

"Not saying it again."

She chuckled lightly. "Now was that so hard?"

"Don't know why you had to make such a big deal out of it."

Sakura shrugged. "Just a courtesy thing, you know."

"Riiiight." The whole time, Sasuke had almost forgotten about his worries since he was so focused on arguing with her.

"Princess Sakura. You've been taking hold of the reins this whole time. You sure you don't need a break?"

"Oh please, Naruto. So have you. I'm fine, it's just a couple more hours."

"Alright then..."

Sakura glanced behind her towards Sasuke. He caught her eyes and she immediately looked away. Naruto smirked at her from behind.

"You're concerned about him, aren't you?"

"Says who?"

"Your body language."

Sakura didn't respond and she merely shrugged. "Who knows."

The rest of the journey fared well. There weren't too many encounters with any villages or towns outside of Ferravea and they were inching towards the country gates of Linshore. Sasuke started feeling nervous, as he had never been there before.

As they arrived at the gates, they approached the guards who were keeping watch at the entrance.

"You think they'll be okay with me and Sasuke here?" Naruto asked Sakura.

"Yeah you should be fine. But don't be surprised if the people start glaring at you."

"Isn't it the same with you? From what I've heard, some of your people deem you a traitor for marrying the royal prince of Ferravea," Sasuke mentioned.

Sakura glanced at the worried Sasuke. "There's no worries. My people aren't like that. What you've heard are just those – rumors. Nothing more."

"HALT!"

Sakura turned back to face the guards and the area around them fell silent.

"Sakura-sama!"

"Hello there. How's everyone?"

the Linshore guards looked at each other, stunned. They then glanced at Naruto, who was sitting behind her and then at Sasuke. At his presence, low murmurs and whispers filled the air and Sakura groaned obnoxiously.

"Oh! Sorry, your highness. Thing is, we've actually been expecting you...just didn't think you'd come looking like this," said one of the guards.

The group of 3 all looked at each other in astonishment.

"Seriously?" Sakura asked.

"Yes. Please, wait in the guard's quarters. We'll escort you shortly."

"I can take care of myself."

"But your father said it was absolutely necessary."

Sakura raised a brow and then huffed. "Fine then. Seems like everything's been strange the past couple of weeks, what's new?"

She dismounted her horse with ease, politely rejecting the offers of help from the guards. Naruto and Sasuke then followed after.

Some of the guards looked at them distastefully. Sakura noticed the sense of animosity and cleared her throat. "You are to treat my husband and his familiar with the utmost respect like you would any member of my family, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good, good. Now, take us to the tunnels. I'm sure father is eager to see me."

Naruto raised a brow. "Tunnels?"

Sakura scoffed with a smug expression. "We have our own method of getting out of the palace too, you know."

Other guards approached the horses. "We'll put your horses in the stables."

Sakura nodded. "Thanks men." She turned to look at Sasuke and Naruto. "Shall we?" She then walked into the guard quarters. It was a small building filled with bunk beds for the guards to sleep on whenever they changed shifts. There was a small kitchen, a laundry room, an armory room, and showers in a separate room adjoined to the side of the building.

"Dormitory style huh. Do you guys ever step into the palace or wander around inside the gates?" Naruto asked one of the guards escorting them.

"Yes. We have our own schedules and we do take breaks and enter the country whenever we can. The king gets upset when we don't take our free time."

"You're well taken care of here, huh."

Sakura sighed. "Of course they are. These people are the ones who keep the outer walls of our country safe. They deserve the utmost respect and care, you know."

"Thank you, Sakura-sama. You're too kind."

Sakura smiled in return and Sasuke watched their interactions carefully. It was like she didn't put a wall between her and other people despite being royalty. However many still looked at him and Naruto strangely and he definitely felt unwelcomed. He then wondered what Sakura felt when she stayed at Ferravea.

As they reached the end of the building, there was a rug awkwardly placed on the floor. A guard knelt down and lifted it, gently tossing it aside. Underneath was a metal door trap with a large imprint of a hand and a lock. The guard pulled a necklace with a key hidden inside his armor and unlocked the door. Slowly, the door opened.

Sakura smiled. "This tunnel leads directly into a storage room of the palace. The hand imprint is for our family to use and since we don't want too many keys floating around, the keys are specific to certain guards."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "Now that's pretty damn cool. So only members of the royal family and specific guards are allowed access to the door."

"It helps. Even as a pretty resourceful country, we're pretty vulnerable because of the annoying spontaneous weather we have here, as you know already. All of the guards you see here are highly trained in close and long distance combat. All of these things are what's kept our country stable and safe for so long."

Sasuke looked into the tunnel. "I'm guessing more walking."

"Yeah." She looked at him at him suspiciously.

"What?" he asked quietly.

"Earlier. When you fell off the horse. You hurt yourself, didn't' you?"

"Oh you mean when you _threw _me off the horse? Yeah, I feel peachy."

Sakura sighed. "Let me." She went to one of the bunk beds and sat down on the lower bunk, patting the empty space beside her. "Sit."

"I'll be fine," Sasuke groaned.

"Yeah up until you start whining."

The guards chuckled.

"You know, kid. You might as well. Sakura-sama is known to be stubborn."

Sasuke lightly chuckled and shook his head. "You're pretty notorious for that even here huh."

"Uh huh."

To avoid any arguments, Sasuke went up to her and sat down.

"Alright," she said proudly. She got off the bed and knelt in front of him, touching his ankles.

"Is it here that hurts?"

"No. It's my lower back."

"...Lie down."

Sasuke obeyed and slowly turned around and laid on his front. She felt around his lower back until he quietly groaned.

"Here, huh..." she said quietly. "You've been enduring this kind of injury on the horse?"

"Would've been lame if I stopped us."

"...Sorry. This was my fault."

"Nah, it's fine."

Sakura sighed guiltily and positioned her hands. The green glow slowly emanated and in moments, Sasuke could feel the pain slowly healing.

However, Sakura started feeling unusually feint the longer she used her power. It wasn't normal at all, but at that instant, images of a young Sasuke and a young Itachi appeared in her mind, like some sort of hallucination.

"Princess Sakura?" asked a concerned Naruto, noticing the glow slowly disappearing. Her body swayed and she fell forward, her head landing on the bed and her arms falling limp onto Sasuke's back.

Sasuke raised a brow. "What the hell are you doing? Sakura?"

The guards panicked and ran to Sakura's aide with Naruto quickly following behind.

Sasuke, not yet realizing the situation, looked at the guards as they looked at him suspiciously. "What...what happened?"

* * *

**Yall. So sorry for the late update, I had a terrible cold and by terrible I mean 3 days of nonstop fever. It was crazy, but I'm back, phew. Keep the love going strong yall. Love you guys! **


	12. Chapter 12 - Revelation

The room was dark and dim. Sakura looked around, confused and taken aback by the current situation. She felt hazy as a voice slowly bellowed before her.

"Welcome, Sakura."

Her eyes widened at the familiar voice and she instinctively followed it. Looking around, it felt like the room would go on endlessly.

"Don't try walking. You won't find me anywhere here."

"...Itachi? That's you, isn't it? What is this place? What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"

There was a low chuckle, but then a sigh followed right after. A sigh that sounded guilty and sad.

"Your conscience. Your mind."

"What...what's going on? How are you-"

"_Some_ of your question...will be answered to you right now. I've been keeping this for way too long now...it's time that you know at least who I am and where I come from. I hope that you won't despise me...nor Sasuke after everything is revealed to you."

"Sasuke? What does Sasuke have to do with this?"

"...You'll see." Itachi's voice faded out and there was a bright flash of light.

A beautiful scenery appeared before her and she was suddenly in a field – as if she was a transparent image. Right in front of her, she could see the palace of Ferravea. There was laughter in the air and she could hear running footsteps.

"Catch me if you can!"

"You're running too fast, brother!"

"Sasuke, I'm slowing down enough for you as it is."

"Don't go easy on me!"

Her eyes followed the voices and she saw two young boys running around and chasing each other. She felt knots in her stomach as the two boys looked awfully familiar.

"Itachi! Stop teasing your brother!"

Her eyes widened in shock. _Brother? _As if her entire world went black, she gulped and turned her head to see who called out to them. It was none other than Mikoto who had worried expression on her face.

"I was just having fun," the young Itachi laughed, patting the pouting young Sasuke.

Mikoto's chuckled lightly but then her face grew sullen. "You need to return...your father and your uncle will get upset if they see you out in public."

Sasuke's face saddened and Itachi looked at the ground before looking at Sasuke with a smile. He kneeled down and patted his brother's head.

"Sorry, Sasuke. Next time."

Sasuke whined. "But I barely get to see you! I want to play. 5 more minutes, pleeeaaase?"

Itachi glanced at Mikoto, but she shook her head in disapproval.

"Sorry, Sasuke. I'll see you soon, okay?" Itachi said, standing straight and walking away.

As Itachi walked, he heard his brother call out to him. "You suck, brother!"

Itachi chuckled at his brother's sulking tone and turned around to look at him. He reached a hand out and motioned him to come over. Sasuke's face lit up and he ran over to him, thinking Itachi was willing to play some more. As he got closer, Itachi mashed two fingers onto his forehead, halting Sasuke.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"Next time, okay? I promise."

Sasuke pouted and Itachi laughed. "I promise." He then walked away and left the fields.

The vision slowly faded away and Sakura felt confused and agitated. At that second, another scenery came into play. There were three men, one of whom was Itachi, but this time he looked slightly older. He was sitting on his bed in a dark and isolated room with Madara and Fugaku.

"How have your studies been?" Fugaku asked Itachi.

"Good."

"Your training?"

"Good."

Madara sighed. "I know this is hard for you."

"Yeah."

"This is for the sake of your people, your family – our family."

Fugaku looked at his son worriedly. "I heard you were out with Sasuke again today."

Itachi's eyes widened as if surprised that his dad knew. He looked away, slightly taken aback.

"Only a handful knows that you're still alive. Do you know what would happen if people find out that you're still alive?"

Sakura felt her chest tighten. _Dead? What do they mean?_

Itachi glanced at Fugaku. "No..."

Madara interrupted the conversation. "Exactly. Quit acting so careless about everything. Everyone thinks that you don't exist anymore and you don't. Plenty of lives are at stake here and you're the best one for the job. You've surpassed the elite of soldiers here and after all this is over, you'll be deemed a hero. Don't you ever forget that, Itachi."

Itachi clenched his hands. "Okay..."

As the vision disappeared, everything went black.

"Now you get the gist of it," said Itachi's voice.

"You were a spy, Itachi?!" Sakura said angrily. "And they faked your death?"

"Yeah...I was."

"...I can't believe this..."

His voice started slowly fading away. "I'm sorry."

"Wait a minute! What's going on in Ferravea? What happened after we left?! We heard two gunshots and-"

"Goodbye, Sakura."

She hesitated for a moment and realized that it was strange that she was having these weird hallucinations. "Wait, Itachi! How did you show me those visions? What did you do to me?"

"That's a story for a later time..."

"Itachi, wait!"

At that moment, everything fell silent.

"_Floating...am I...floating?"_

"_Cold...so cold..."_

Sakura gasped and shot up from bed. She panted fiercely and looked at her hands that were slick with sweat.

"She's awake!"

She looked around the room. It looked oddly familiar. As her vision started clearing up a little, she immediately knew where she was. It was her room. Not her Ferravea room but _her _room in Linshore. As her vision cleared up some more, she looked beside her bed and saw her aunt Tsunade who had just yelled that she was awake.

"Aunt Tsunade..?"

She looked around some more and found Sasuke and Naruto, both of who looked completely different from their usual selves. Sasuke was in a chair, his fingers crossed on his head and he was bent over, hiding his face. Naruto was standing against the wall, legs and arms crossed with an expression that she had never seen on the Naruto that was usually goofing around. It was a face that of misery. Not just that, both of them were completely covered in bandages and bruises.

Sakura felt lost and confused. What had happened? How did she get to her room? All these questions floated into her mind and her head started to hurt terribly. "What's...going on..."

"You've been asleep for two days."

"Two days?! Wait...how did I get here..."

"You collapsed after trying to heal Sasuke when you first arrived. Do you not remember?"

"No...it felt like the entire thing was just a dream."

She looked at Sasuke, who quietly looked up to meet her eyes. The expression on her face turned to that of someone horrified. "Sasuke?!" She didn't recognize his face anymore. He was pale and looked like he hadn't eaten. He smiled weakly at her.

"You're finally awake...good..." he said quietly. "God, what would I have done if..."

Tsunade grabbed Sakura's hands, tears welling in her eyes. Sakura then noticed that there was a person missing... someone that was usually always beside her. She remembered the voice in her head.

"Itachi...where's Itachi?"

Tsunade took in a deep breath and tightened her grip on Sakura's hands even more.

"Sakura...the king and queen of Ferravea are dead."

Sakura's jaw dropped and she looked at Sasuke again. He avoided her eyes and hung his head. Naruto clicked his tongue and clenched his teeth as he looked away, also looking devastated. Her lips quivered and she looked at her hands that were trembling in shock.

"Sasuke's parents...are dead?" She thought of Itachi and then clenched her hands tightly. "Then that means..._his_ parents are dead..."

Sakura looked at Sasuke and then at everyone else. "I'd like to be left alone with Sasuke, please."

Sasuke furrowed his brows in confusion and looked up at her and then at Naruto, who looked away guiltily.

"We need to get you looked at first. You just woke up, you know," Tsunade said, looking very worried.

"I'm fine," Sakura replied. "Please."

Tsunade hesitated for a moment and then nodded her head. "I understand." She glanced at everyone else in the room and motioned for them to leave, which they did.

There was an awkward silence in the room. The distance between Sakura and Sasuke had never felt so great until now. She looked at the chair beside her bed tht that Tsunade was sitting in and then looked at Sasuke. "Hey...why don't you come over here?"

Sasuke looked up at her then looked at the floor. "I'm fine here."

"...Alright..." She said quietly.

Sasuke looked at her again and then sighed. He slowly stood up from the floor and walked over to the chair, sitting down quietly. The awkward silence returned and she looked at his face and at his wounds. Save the questions for later, she told herself.

"I'm...so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine what you're going through right now."

Sasuke looked up at her and smiled lightly. "Thank you."

"...How are you feeling?"

"I don't know what to feel. It seems that your parents already knew. That's why they were expecting us."

"How?"

"They said Itachi sent them a message not too long ago."

Sakura clenched her hands tightly. "Is that so?"

"He also said that we shouldn't ever come back and that it was too dangerous to be anywhere near Ferravea. I don't know why, but I'm guessing there's some conspiracy and debate about who did it."

Sakura looked at him as he interlaced his fingers and rested his elbows on his thighs. He then rested his hands against his forehead and sighed deeply.

"I don't know where to go or what to do from here on..." He then looked at her. "Then you were out cold for two days after healing me...I thought it was my fault and that you were gone for good."

She felt grateful that he was worried and then looked at his injuries. "What happened?"

"Well...after I got the message about my parents...I kind of lost it. I also got into an argument with Naruto about something."

Sakura looked at him sadly. "Argument? About?"

"Nothing..."

She avoided the question any further and looked at her hands. "I...had a really strange dream...no. More like visions."

"Visions?"

She looked at him hesitantly. "I know everything."

His eyes widened and he sat back. "Know what?"

"I know who is Itachi is to you. How he came to work for my father. Everything."

Sasuke felt his hands shake and he covered his face. "Shit...what sorts of visions did you have to let you come to that conclusion?"

"They were weird visions. It was like Itachi was there, telling me a story."

Baffled, Sasuke didn't say a thing.

She sighed deeply and looked at the ceiling. "After I was born, my father asked our counselor to stop recruiting new hires. He was worried that we'd be infiltrated especially since I was the new heir _and_ a girl. We weren't sure who knew about our secrets, but I'm assuming Itachi has told you something about them. Itachi worked with us for the past 12 years. I know that your family faked his death so he could hide until it wasn't suspicious for him to start working at our palace. I remember that. When I was younger, I remember my father mentioning something about the death of the eldest son of the Ferravea king. But that wasn't the case was it?"

Sasuke kept on listening.

"It was only staged like that and he disappeared until it was long enough for him to finally work for my father. That was the plan, wasn't it?"

Sasuke clenched his hands, still quiet.

"Got nothing to say then?"

"I don't know what to say, Sakura..."

"I don't expect you to. I'm...not particularly angry. I'm just confused. If you were all so hellbent on some sort of mission to infiltrate our kingdom then you and Naruto would have killed me by now and here I am, still alive."

"...Are you going to tell your parents?"

Sakura looked at him and shook her head. "I won't. You've been through enough as it is. I can tell that Itachi deeply cared about you and that there's a reason for all this. I...I also trust that you won't do anything to put my life in danger."

Shocked at her reasoning, Sasuke nodded. "Thank you."

Sakura looked at his wounds again. "Why hasn't anyone tried to heal you and Naruto?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I told them not to. I lashed out on everyone so I'm using this as punishment. That stubborn Naruto decided to do the same thing and asked not to get healed. Now that you know everything, the real reason we got into an argument is because I told him the truth out of impulse and he got really upset. Then I hit him because I got annoyed."

"I see." Sakura's eyes then trailed upwards towards his. They looked at each other for a moment before Sasuke slowly touched her hands, sending sparks. It was strange to her but she didn't feel like pulling her hand away. Sasuke noticed this and gripped her hand tightly.

"I'm glad you're awake. I'm glad that you know. I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything but I'm relieved that you know. I haven't really been acting the husband role properly...I don't know what to tell you, I didn't know if I should...I just didn't want you to hate me."

"It's fine. Don't apologize for anything. In fact, I should be the one apologizing. If only we had stopped after we left the palace, maybe your parents-"

"No," Sasuke said, interrupting her. "There was nothing we could have done. In fact, we could have made things worse if we had done that. Like you said, there's a reason for why Itachi did this."

"...Do you hate him?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know, but I don't particularly like him."

As they held each other's hands, she could feel his hands trembling in the slightest with sweat slowly building up in the palm of her hands.

"How are you feeling?" she asked again.

He looked at their hands and lightly scoffed to himself. "Like shit."

She thought of Mikoto and Fugaku and sighed, bringing both of their hands to her chest, as if hugging them. "I'm so sorry."

She looked at his eyes and he pulled their hands and covered his face with them.

"What am I going to do now?" he muttered quietly.

She watched him sadly and she could feel her hands getting slightly wet.

"Sasuke...?"

As he replied to her, his voice trembled as if that of a lost child. "Don't look...just...let me borrow your hands for a while, okay? You're a good friend...a good wife."

She closed her eyes and then looked at him. "Alright."

After she had said that, he quietly sobbed into their hands.

* * *

**Really apologize for the late update guys. Things have been CRAZY at work and graduation was last week so I was pretty busy. Anyways, yay summer! **


	13. Chapter 13

Hey guys. As you've noticed, my updates have been delayed (very much so honestly) so I extremely apologize! The new job I have is really tough and I'm all over the place so I haven't had time to write much. Anyways. I hope your summers were off to a great start..

* * *

Sasuke slowly started to open his eyes. He could feel that his eyes were slightly swollen. He looked around him. He let the unfamiliar setting of the bedroom sink in and he took in a deep breath. He looked beside him and saw Sakura sleeping quietly with her head rested on his arm. It was strange how it came to this situation. After he cried last night, Sakura persuaded him to just stay in her room and not have to worry about walking back to the bedroom he was given. He scoffed lightly at himself for letting himself go along with her idea. He carefully examined her features and pushed some stray hairs away from her cheek. This was completely different form the first time they had slept together on a bed. He praised himself for not kicking her off this time around.

He stared at her face once more. He then sighed deeply, he really wanted to move his arm since he could feel that he had lost all feeling in it. Luckily for Sakura, he didn't mind her sleeping like this and didn't feel like pushing her off. He then used his other hand and then slid it gently across her forehead, pushing the bangs completely up and away from her forehead and face. He smiled lightly to himself and looked at her and slowly leaned in.

"Nn..."

Completely immersed in his actions, Sasuke didn't notice that she made a sound and continued leaning in and lightly pecked her forehead. As he pulled back, he was ridden with shock as he saw Sakura's eyes wide open. She had witnessed the entire thing.

"Whoa..." he grumbled, quickly sitting up and pulling his arm out from under Sakura's head forcefully which she accepted with a groan.

Sakura's eyes still expressed disbelief. "Ow...you...what did you just do?"

"Nothing..." he lied.

"I saw the entire thing!"

Sasuke tried to brush it off and the door suddenly opened. Both Sasuke and Sakura swiftly turned their heads to see who it was. The doctor who had come in to check on her vital signs looked up from his chart and then gasped in shock as he saw Sakura and Sasuke on the bed.

"My goodness me! I should have knocked...oh no...I didn't think that you'd be..." The doctor started rubbing his forehead stressfully. "Oh dear, princess Sakura. To think that you're doing this sort of thing...I am so deeply sorry for interrupting you two." Slowly, he started backing away. "Goodness, I keep forgetting you're not a child anymore, my goodness."

Sakura sighed. "Don't be ridiculous, doc. You aren't interrupting anything...you're just making things awkward."

Sasuke felt a rush of embarrassment and got off the bed. "Seems like you've got important business to attend to. I'll take my leave."

Sakura grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. "No." She felt her hands tremble a little and she cleared her throat. "Uh, nevermind. Go."

Sasuke smirked. "Is the young highness asking me to stay with her?"

"Shut up."

"You're such a cute wife," he teased, sitting back on the bed.

The doctor who was still in the room felt even more awkward with the way they were interacting.

"Um...I'm just going to do a little check up and then I'll leave."

"Please go ahead," said Sakura, frowning at Sasuke who was obviously making things uncomfortable.

After about 10 minutes of checking her vitals and her body movements, the doctor nodded his head in approval. "Looks like everything's stable," Sakura's doctor said, clapping his hands. "You can resume your..._activities_."

"You're absolutely sure?" asked Sasuke. Sakura, surprised at his concern, looked at him oddly.

"Yes. I'm certain."

Sasuke sighed a huge sigh of relief and bid a polite farewell to the doctor. He then put his hands on his waist and looked at Sakura. "Well, you sure you feel fine?"

"Yes," Sakura muttered, sitting up from her bed. "It's been a day and a half since I woke up. Give me a break already." She stretched her arms and they limply fell back onto the bed as she took a good look around her room as she had done many times since she had gotten back.

"Can't believe I'm actually here..."

"Well, it's a good thing the three of us made it out here alive."

Speaking of the three, she looked at him with a big question mark plastered on her face. "Where's Naruto?"

"In his room...We've haven't talked since that fight we had."

"You mean the reason why you two got all bruised up?"

"...Yeah."

"You're not going to talk to him forever now?"

"...No...I just think he needs some time to collect all his thoughts..."

She looked at him as he sighed heavily. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing. Just don't know how you managed to stay knocked out for two days like that."

She slowly and quietly answered back, not really knowing the answer either. "Yeah..."

"They said you kept calling out to Itachi..." Sakura noticed the hint of unease in his voice as he said Itachi's name. "Do you think that's related to the letter he sent your father?"

Sakura reminded herself of the dream she had and shook her head. "No." She slowly stood up from her bed. "...Do you know what happened to your parents? What's going to the happen to the treaty?"

"Investigations are pending right now and as for the treaty, I don't really know. Rumor is that we escaped because someone targeted us and that there's a reward out for anyone who has any information on this presumed _assassin._ People say that my parents were collateral damage since they tried to protect us." He then looked at her and then scratched the back of his head. "I didn't want to tell you this...but the other side of the dice is that suspicions about you have also arose. Another rumor is also going around that you're responsible and that you eloped with me."

Sakura's eyes widened. "That's ridiculous!"

Sasuke nodded. "I know. Your father sent a letter to Ferravea asking them for details. I don't know what's going to happen from here on out. Just keep your guard up...who knows how long this treaty will last after what had happened. The corruption in my father's council should be erupting soon enough..."

"Hm...right..." She clenched her hands angrily, feeling useless for not being able to do anything. She shook her head and then got up from bed. "I think we should go see my father."

Sasuke shook his head. "Well...not yet. Just rest up a bit."

Sakura furrowed her brows and sighed. "Okay I'd listen to you but I'm hungry. Let's eat lunch," she said.

He sighed and shook his head. "I don't feel like going anywhere..."

"Oh come on," she groaned, pulling on his hands. "Let's go."

His eyes widened at the gesture and he looked at their hands as she pulled him along with her. He was holding his hands as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do.

"Not now," he groaned, still feeling slightly embarrassed that she was still holding onto him.

"I'm hungry...being bedridden and eating nothing but soup has affected my appetite."

He stopped and tugged on her arm. She gasped and was pulled towards him and he caught her with ease, surprising her.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, annoyed. She looked up at him and her jaw slightly dropped. His face had a solemn expression as if torn between something.

"Doing something like this will give me the wrong idea, you know," he said.

"Wrong idea?"

Sasuke sighed and he pulled himself back. "Nevermind. Where do you want to eat?"

She looked at her hands that he pulled away from and realized what she did. "Sorry...for grabbing your hands like that. Must have been weird huh."

"I didn't have a problem with it. I just don't want to assume anything."

"Assume what?"

Sasuke flicked her forehead and furrowed his eyebrows. "Nothing. You ask too many questions."

She looked up at him with an annoyed expression and he lightly chuckled before slowly getting up from bed.

"I'm going to go get ready."

As she watched him get off the bed, she watched his back as he slowly took off his shirt. Her eyes widened and she coughed loudly.

"Mind changing elsewhere?"

Sasuke turned his head with a smirk. "Conscious of me again?"

She scoffed and turned around so her back faced him again. "Nevermind."

He lightly chuckled and walked out of the room to go to his. "I'll see you later." He then turned his head slightly to look at her. "Thanks...for last night."

"...Mm," she quietly replied. After he left, she slowly brought the covers up to hide her face from embarrassment. "Damn..."


End file.
